The Maryland Entrepreneur's Guide/Incubators

Chapter 1 Private Financing

Chapter 2 Maryland Financing Programs

Chapter 3 Federal Financing

Chapter 4 Incubators

Chapter 5 Business Enterprise Programs

Chapter 6 Opportunities for Business Growth

Chapter 7 Tax Credit and Incentive Programs

Chapter 8 Intellectual Property Protection

Chapter 9 Choice of Entity

Additional Resources

Contributors

Conditions of Use; Contributor's Disclaimer

=  INCUBATORS=

Technology Advancement Program at University of Maryland College Park (TAP)
TAP, is a program at the University of Maryland College Park. It is a division of the A. James Clark School of Engineering. TAP offers a cost-effective modern wet laboratory, furnished offices and conference rooms equipped with Telecom systems, internet, HVAC around the clock, and utilities. For more information on the program, see www.tap.umd.edu.

University Expertise- Experienced professionals assist companies in TAP with: (a)	Extensive advising and coaching (b)	Fundraising from investors and grantors (c)	Market analysis, business planning and customer acquisition strategy (d)	Financial Analysis (e)	Preparations for investor presentations and due diligence preparation (f)	Legal advice (g)	TAP has their own Intellectual Property Clinic (h)	Press release services (i)	Executive recruiting (j)	Legal and Intellectual Property protection clinic (2)	Special Facilities (a)	Biotechnology Research and Education Programs (b)	Maryland Nano Center (c)	University of Maryland Energy Research Center

Eligibility Criteria & Application Candidates for the program must be early-stage companies that are developing technology oriented products or services. The admission process generally can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Period of residence in the incubator is generally one to four years. There are three steps an applicant must take in order to be accepted into the TAP program.

(a) Submit an executive summary. Once the summary is reviewed TAP management will contact applicants to question them about their summary. Also, TAP executives will require a face-to-face meeting or teleconference with the applicant.

(b) If a company’s executive summary is approved than an entrepreneur will need to create a Technical Plan. This plan will be analyzed by TAP’s executives to determine the feasibility of the company.

(c) If the company’s technical plan is approved than an entrepreneur will need to submit a Business Plan and afterwards the entrepreneur will need to present his or her Business Plan to a panel of industry and business experts.

For more information, please see: http://www.tap.umd.edu/

Incubator and Accelerator - University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC Tech Center)
This program is administered by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), located adjacent to the UMBC campus. This program is a part of bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park. UMBC’s incubator also operates an Idea Lab to help UMBC students and faculty develop businesses. This incubator assists start-up biotechnology companies or existing mid-size information technology firms who desire to grow their business. “The technology center at UMBC is arguably the region’s most successful incubator for bio-science companies. In Vitro Technologies a profitable company that grew from two employees to 80 in 10 years, and Cell Works, which has grown from three to 30 employees over the past 4 years, are the two most notable examples of companies that graduated UMBC’s incubation program and found homes in Baltimore” One Billion in Projects for Johns Hopkins in Baltimore—Charles Belfoure.

UMBC bwtech@UMBC created the research and technology park to strengthen its role as an economic engine for Maryland and Baltimore County. This program has an infrastructure in place to help launch a business or expand an already existing company. Any firm accepted by this organization will have access to university expertise, UMBC students, various programs, and UMBC’s facilities.

The bwtech@UMBC Incubator program provides affordable office and wet laboratory space early-stage technology and bioscience companies at flexible leasing terms. Additionally, the program offers participants business advisory services, access to capital, and the resources necessary to commercialize and bring their products and/or services to market. The typical period of residence in the incubator is limited to three years, however, with approval, life sciences companies may be able to stay longer.

Graduates of the Incubator program and existing technology companies may participate in the Accelerator program. Preference is given to companies that wish to collaborate with UMBC or are interested in developing products or services in the life sciences, cybersecurity, or clean energy fields. The bwtech@UMBC Accelerator program provides participants with low-cost office and wet lab space.

A board composed of over a dozen professionals is able to assist companies participating in the Incubator and Accelerator Programs. Furthermore, bwtech@UMBC maintains partnerships with local and state organizations that provide further access to funding and mentoring.

The Incubator and Accelerator complex includes three buildings: the main building is a four-story facility with two full-service elevators, on-site dining overlooking the city of Baltimore, and state-of-the-art conference and seminar rooms. The biotechnology building is a three-story facility of offices and wet laboratories with a full service elevator, loading dock, and handicapped accessible loading dock. Finally, the last building has UMBC Training Centers which provide Accelerator and Incubator participants with professional, scientific and technical training. For more information, please see www.bwtechumbc.com.

(1)	The Incubator Program is designed for start-up companies.

(2)	The Accelerator Program is designed for second stage companies that are looking to expand.

(3)    A program that is unique to UMBC is ACTiVATE which is a year-long program that pairs competent business women from the Maryland area with technologies that were developed by students at Maryland. This program received an award for the Best Specialty Entrepreneurship Education Program from the U.S. Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship’s.

(4)  there are over a dozen research programs at UMBC designed to facilitate the success of any start-up or fledgling company.

Experienced professionals are available to help any company, whether start-up or emerging. They provide services ranging from:

(a)	Comprehensive business plan assistance.

(b)	Providing formal business plan overviews.

(c)	Assessing strengths and weaknesses of companies.

(d)	Recruiting; qualifying and organizing professional mentors and external professional resources for clients.

Students

Students are active in serving the companies in these programs. There are 11,000 students at UMBC who are majoring in either IT, Engineering, the Sciences or Liberal Arts. There are networks in place at UMBC to introduce UMBC alums and UMBC students with companies in the Accelerator and Incubator programs. For example, UMBC’s Office of Technology Development is committed to supporting collaborations between the university and industry.

Eligibility Criteria

a.	An applicant for this program needs to have an information technology or biotechnology focus. Also, he/she could have research and development components to his/her business.

b.	The application for the incubator can be completed electronically and is composed of three parts; general application, executive summary, and sources and uses statement.http://www.umbc.edu/techcenter/application.html

c.	The University of Maryland takes a small equity position in any company that is accepted into the incubator program. Traditionally, they take a 1% equity share for every year that a company participates in the program. Accelerator companies enter into commercial leases with the University of Maryland and do not cede any equity to the school.

For more information, please visit: http://www.bwtechumbc.com/

Maryland International Incubator (MI2)
The Maryland International Incubator (MI2) is the result of a collaboration between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). The mission of MI2 is to connect Maryland and International companies for successful joint ventures through a targeted array of business services, state-of-the-art facilities, and world-class resources. The Maryland economy benefits from increased commercial activity resulting from the International Incubator. Maryland faculty and students benefit from intellectual and cultural exchange. International companies benefit from successful partnerships with both Maryland companies and the University.

MI2 is the result of a collaboration between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). The mission of MI2 is to connect Maryland and International companies for successful joint ventures through a targeted array of business services, state-of-the-art facilities, and world-class resources.

MI2 is established to encourage international collaboration in the following market segments: (1) Healthcare; (2) Environment; (3) Agriculture; (4) Energy; and (5) Fire Protection. MI2 provides partner companies with: (1) Direct access to world-class faculty, students and research facilities; (2) physical space for companies to reside in; (3) hands-on mentoring and training; and (3) networking opportunities with potential partners having common or complementary interests with potential investors.

Companies interested in exploring opportunities with MI2 should download the application linked at: http://www.mtech.umd.edu/mi2/apply.html, and e-mail it to mi2@umd.edu.

For more information, please visit: http://wwww.mtech.umd.edu

Go back to top

Chesapeake Innovation Center
The Chesapeake Innovation Center incubates entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses with unique technology products, enabling them to grow to the next level. To date, more than 50 companies have benefited from the specialized programs and assistance of the CIC, whether through top-tier networking opportunities or guidance in business plan development, human resources, product development and lifecycle, financing, contracting assistance and other tailored business support for entrepreneurial enterprises. Another 200-plus technology businesses have participated in the innovation center’s signature technology scouting program, TechBridge℠, which matches innovative technology solutions with larger enterprises seeking unique approaches to solving emerging challenges. For more information, see http://www.cic-tech.org.

Emerging Technology Center (ETC)
The Emerging Technology Center is a nonprofit business incubator program that is geared toward growing early stage, technology-based companies in Baltimore City. ETC operates out of three facilities in Baltimore City, and is one of the regions more successful incubators. For more information, please see http://www.etcbaltimore.com www.etcbaltimore.com.

ETC @ Canton

This facility is located in the former American Can Company complex and is also the ETC’s administrative headquarters. Located on the third floor of 2400 Boston Street, the facility provides conference rooms and fully wired office space ideal for IT, software, biotech, and wireless companies.

ETC @ Johns Hopkins University Eastern

Located a few minutes from the Johns Hopkins University campus on the third floor of 1101 East 33rd Street, this location offers conference rooms and focuses on commercializing technology from Johns Hopkins and other regional research institutions.

Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI)
FITCI's main goal is to foster entrepreneurship in Frederick County and actively contribute to the County's continued job growth and business stability. By providing entrepreneurial start- up assistance to young companies in a nurturing and supportive environment, FITCI encourages technological innovation and accelerates the development of commercially viable, technology-based businesses. For more information, please see http://www.fitci.org.

Garrett Information Enterprise Center
The Garrett Information Enterprise Center is a technology focused incubator building whose focus is to support the economic growth of Garrett County by creating an environment for facilitating the successful development of information intensive companies. For more information, please see http://www.giecworks.com

Germantown Innovation Center
Part of Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Center, although described as a joint partnership with Montgomery Community College. For more information, please see http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dedtmpl.asp?url=/content/ded/incub/gic/index.asp.

Hagerstown Community College's Technical Innovation Center (Washington County’s Business Incubator at Hagerstown Community College)
Western Maryland’s largest and most comprehensive technology based business incubator. For more information, please see http://www.technicalinnovationcenter.com.

Higher Education and Applied Technology Center
A one-stop technology resource for higher education courses and degrees, technical training and certification, customized corporate training, meeting and conference facilities, videoconferencing and networked computer labs with SGI, Unix, NT and Windows 2000. The center also features a high-performance manufacturing lab, biochemical lab, along with a technology business park (the area's closest to the Army facilities at Aberdeen Proving Ground) that has flexible office, lab and testing units and areas to build on. For more information, please see http://www.heatcentermaryland.com/.

Neotech Incubator
The NeoTech Incubator, facilitated through the Center for Business and Technology Development, helps entrepreneurs develop into thriving companies and is part of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. For more information, please see http://www.thecenter.biz.

Prince George’s County – Technology Assistance Center
The Prince George’s County Technology Assistance Center (TAC) is an incubator program established to foster the creation and growth of early stage technology companies in Prince George’s County. As an integral part of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation, the TAC promotes economic development by fostering the successful growth of its incubator companies through provision of affordable facilities and a broad range of business and technical services. The TAC encourages and supports high-growth potential technology companies, with a preference for those developing proprietary products and services. For more information, please see http://www.pgcedc.com/tac.

Rockville Innovation Center (RIC)
The RIC provides space and support programs for domestic technology startups, as well as for international technology companies interested in opening their first U.S. office. For more information, please see http://www.rockvilleredi.org/business/incubator.html.

Shady Grove Innovation Center
Formerly known as the Maryland Technology Development Center, the Shady Grove Innovation Center is a project initiated and managed by Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. It was developed, financed and constructed as a joint partnership between the county and the State of Maryland. For more information, please see http://www.mcinnovationnetwork.com/facilitiesandtenants/facilities/shady-grove-ic/.

Silver Spring Innovation Center (SSIC)
The SSIC has 20,000 square feet of office and R&D space in a four-story building at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Blair Mill Road. Designed for start-up and early stage information technology businesses, SSIC has over 40 individual offices available in varying sizes and designs. Amenities include a state-of-the-art communications system with a T1 line and three to four data drops in each office, 24-hour access with ample parking, shared office equipment, conference and meeting space, storage space and a loading dock. For more information, please see http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/content/ded/incub/ssic/index.asp.

Tawes Science/Technology Incubator
The Tawes Incubator is Allegany County's first incubator for technology-related businesses in a portion of the 40,000 square-foot Tawes Hall. For more information, please see http://alleganyworks.org/abc_cd/ABC/.

TechPort UAS Business Incubator
TechPort is Southern Maryland’s new business incubator located at St. Mary’s County Airport. Initiated and supported by Navy, County, University of Maryland (UMD), and Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) stakeholders, TechPort’s charter is to grow the area’s economic base by accelerating innovation and assisting entrepreneurs to create and build new tech-based companies. UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and other autonomous systems are a prime focus of the incubator, given TechPort’s unique ‘UAS Central’ ecosystem and assets: Naval Air Station Patuxent River, NAWCAD/Navy Tech Transfer, St. Mary’s County airport location with UMD’s UAS Test Site next door, UAS companies, and aligned higher education resources St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM), College of Southern Maryland (CSM), University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland (SMHEC) and its upcoming facility for autonomous systems. The incubator endeavors to help diversify the local business environment of Southern Maryland. Operated under contract by the University of Maryland, TechPort targets startup and early stage companies that specialize in unmanned and autonomous systems and commercialization of Navy technology. The incubator offers premier office and development space, including high quality 3-D printers, a general machine shop, strategic advising, and expanded funding opportunities.

TowsonGlobal
TowsonGlobal, the Business Globalization Center, is Towson University’s international incubator for early-stage companies. TowsonGlobal helps bridge the way for entrepreneurial enterprises to find success in the global economy. The Center accomplishes this by providing businesses with a wide range of support needed to flourish in today’s competitive global environment, such as office facilities, business counseling, and workshops. For more information, please see http://www.towsonglobal.com.

Wheaton Business Center (WBIC)
The WBIC provides office space, conference rooms and support services for approximately 25-30 local small businesses. For more information, please see http://www.mcinnovationnetwork.com/facilitiesandtenants/facilities/wheaton-ic/.

Go back to top

The Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA)
The MBIA is an association of business incubator managers dedicated to sharing resources, information, and best practices among the members with the overall goal of promoting business incubation excellence within all Maryland's incubators. For more information, please see http://www.mdbusinessincubation.org.

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA)
The NBIA is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. It provides thousands of professionals with the information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies worldwide. For more information, please see http://www.nbia.org.

Go back to top