NATBI History:

The Northern Arizona Technology and Business Incubator (NATBI) is an award- winning business start-up assistance program highly recognized in northern Arizona since 2001 for its assistance to technology-based companies. NATBI was made possible by the leadership of the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council and through funds provided by the City of Flagstaff and community investors that were matched by a grant from the Arizona Department of Commerce. Initial financial support also came from the City of Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University, Coconino Community College, Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, Coconino County Board of Supervisors, APS, Bank of America, McCoy Motors, LNN Enterprises, Tom McKinney Mobile Repair, as well as other silent contributors. This is in addition to the many volunteers and supporters who also donated their time and energy.

Major Accomplishments:

As evidence of its early success, in October 2003, Arizona Governor Jane Hull presented NATBI with an Economic Development Award for Innovative Economic Development Practices at the Governor’s Rural Development Conference. NATBI was also named as a “Who to Watch Program in 2003” by AZBusiness Magazine and a “Who to Watch in Biotech” by The Arizona Republic. In its five year history as a virtual incubator NATBI has worked with over 25 clients, has three graduated clients and two active clients with two additional under application review, all are actively doing business locally. In 2006 NATBI worked with over 14 prospective clients and developed a series of 11 interactive workshops. NATBI is currently prospecting six additional clients in the pre application process. In the first fiscal quarter of 2007 aggregate revenue generated from existing/ graduated clients is in excess of $700,000 with 50 employees (full time, part time and contractors). At an estimated 10 percent combined tax rate this equates to about $70,000 of incremental tax revenue.

Major Events:

NATBI has begun to build pathways to client companies starting with NAU transferred technology. Additionally, NATBI hosted a series of workshops on NAU’s campus to solicit client companies with technology transfer opportunities, most notably in the Colleges of Engineering and Biology. NATBI was instrumental in assisting NAU in transferring a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) and the City of Flagstaff. The EDA grant will pay the engineering costs for a 10,000 square foot science and technology incubator building located in Flagstaff to serve the entire northern Arizona region. This facility will help the region reach important goals, including: creating 500 new jobs in the next 10 years, assisting Indian Nations in establishing their own business development centers on the four tribal lands, along with bricks and mortar needs for wet/dry lab, open office space, conference rooms, and a high- speed computer network. NATBI has so far worked with technology-based businesses such as SunWind Solutions, LLC which produces web-based renewable energy system design software.

Services Offered:

NATBI draws on a rich network of business specialists to provide management services for our incubator companies. For most of our clients, these services are a key component of their success. NATBI provides consultation on marketing, distribution, manufacturing, material logistics, accounting, legal, human resources, outside financing (loans, venture capital), and other business disciplines. These services are provided either through one-on-one consulting, an advising board, professional service providers, or an entrepreneurial network.

Business Incubation:

Small businesses are the backbone of the local and national economy. According to the Arizona Department of Commerce, small businesses, designated as employing less than 100 employees, account for 95 percent of all businesses in Arizona. While small business creation is strong, so is the failure rate - nearly 80% of all businesses have ceased operation within the first 5 years.

In an effort to increase the rate of success, business incubators began to form in the early 1980's. According to the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA), the industry trade organization, there are currently over 900 business incubators in the United States. Combined, these incubators have assisted nearly 19,000 companies that now employ more than 245,000 employees.

Benefits to the Entrepreneur: Business incubators provide an ideal place to start and grow a business. Incubators expose entrepreneurial firms to seasoned management expertise. Additionally, the frequent interaction with other entrepreneurs who share similar problems provides the opportunity for synergistic learning. As noted earlier, starting a business is a very risky venture. Over 80% of all new firms cease operations within the first 5 years. However, according to the NBIA, 87% of all firms that graduated from an incubator are still in business.





Benefits to the Community: According to studies conducted by the NBIA and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration:

- For every $1 of estimated annual public operating subsidy provided the incubator, clients and graduates of NBIA member incubators generate approximately $45 in local tax revenue alone.

- NBIA members report that 84 percent of incubator graduates stay in their communities and continue to provide a return to their investors.

- Publicly supported incubators create jobs at a cost of about $1,100 each, whereas other publicly supported job creation mechanisms commonly cost more than $10,000 per job created.

- NBIA estimates that North American incubator clients and graduates have created approximately half a million jobs since 1980. That is enough jobs to employ every person living in Denver, Colo.

- Every 50 jobs created by an incubator client generate another 25 jobs in the community.




Copyright 2005 © Northern Arizona Technology and Business Incubators
Created by Summer Witting