The Incubator Concept

The Orange Innovation Center is not yet a by-the-book business incubator that presumes ready investment dollars. We are working towards that goal while nurturing our tenant's growth in every way feasible.

Business Incubators are engines for robust economic revitalization; they create new products, fresh jobs, and augmented services for the community. They provide fledgling companies an encouraging environment for growth.

Each tenant organization can:
1. access extensive in-house and out-of house resources
2. expect support in developing business plans
3 follow-up on opportunities to exhibit at conferences and working capital showcases.

The most promising outfits may be invited into a second tier of opportunity, a rich network of business resources, including: venture capital, legal assistance such as licensing and intellectual property, state and federal contacts, grant sources, and marketing know-how.

Why is the OIC setting optimum for a business incubator?

OIC is set in the bucolic surroundings of the North Quabbin region, while only thirty minutes from the five-campus area which encompassing: the University of Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Amherst and Hampshire colleges.

OIC's renovations of it's historic structure are expressly designed to convert the building into a mixed-use incubator, rather than many incubators that are simply housed in empty schools and unimproved vacant buildings.

When are companies expected to "graduate" out of the Incubator?

Since the first three years of any start-up are typically the most critical, most companies take advantage of the incubator's affordable rent and business services for that period.

As businesses become self-sufficient enough to move out of the Incubator and contribute to the economic growth of the region, other early-stage enterprises take their place. Graduates are encouraged to continue drawing upon the mentoring/consulting/networking resources of the incubator management and tenant community.