A rousing success

Held at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel and attended by 580 people, the  NBIA 2012 International Conference  on Business Incubation was a rousing success. It featured more than 60 educational sessions, multiple plenary sessions and much time for attendees to interact with one another and the nearly two-dozen exhibitors who offered goods and services tailored to the needs of business incubation. Several new features at this year’s conference were big hits, including an online tool that enabled conference-goers to efficiently sort out the sessions they most wanted to attend. One of the most popular new features this year was the New Member/Nonmember Reception, where those who recently joined NBIA and those in attendance who were not NBIA members got to spend time meeting each other and having small-group discussions with NBIA staff and board members.

Plans are already under way for NBIA’s 27th International Conference on Business Incubation in Boston, April 7-10, 2013. Visit www.nbiaconference.org for more details about this event.

Put It in Writing II:

Incubator documents address all aspects of working with clients, from how to use the photocopier to the acceptable amount of time a client may remain in the program. Some documents are commonly used among incubators of all types, while others are more closely tied to an incubator’s specific mission and needs.

Earlier this year, NBIA released Put It in Writing II: A Guide to Incubator Policies, Procedures, and Agreements, which explains why written policies and procedures are paramount for efficient incubator operations and provides many sample documents to help guide your efforts. As an added feature, the book includes a CD containing copies of all sample documents in both PDF and Microsoft Word formats. This publication is available through the NBIA Bookstore online at www.nbia.org/store .

 New and renewed

Over the summer, a panel of experienced business incubator managers selected the most recent recipients of the NBIA Soft Landings International Incubator designation for 2012-14, while another round of applications is slated for review this fall.

In July, Automation Alley of Troy, Mich., and Innovation Depot of Birmingham, Ala., earned the Soft Landings designation for the first time. The Enterprise Development Center at the New Jersey Institute of Technology of Newark, N.J., and RiDO Business Centres of Rotherham, U.K., earned their first renewal, while Montpellier Agglomeration BIC of Montpellier, France, received its second, and ATP Innovations of Eveleigh, Australia, and the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D., earned their third renewals.

Now in its eighth year, the Soft Landings program recognizes NBIA member incubators with proven ability to help nondomestic companies enter the incubator's domestic market. NBIA’s Soft Landings designations are effective for two years; programs must reapply biennially for continuing designation.

Soft Landings designees are authorized to use the NBIA Soft Landings logo on their websites and in their promotional materials to tout their unique capabilities to potential clients. To date, 25 incubations programs have received NBIA’s Soft Landings designation.

To learn more about NBIA’s Soft Landings program, visit www.nbia.org/member_services/soft_landings.

 

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Each year, it provides thousands of professionals with information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies. www.nbia.org