Business Pulse: Eastern Shore opens first business incubator

6/25/2015

Ben Wu

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Business Resources

June 2015

Business Pulse:Eastern Shore opens first business incubator

Ben Wu is Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

Earlier this month, I had the chance to join with local leaders and business partners in Cambridge on a very exciting day for the Eastern Shore, and really for all of Maryland. The occasion was the groundbreaking of the Eastern Shore Innovation Center (ESIC), the newest addition to our statewide network of business incubators and, most importantly, the first one on the Eastern Shore.

The groundbreaking marked the first significant step in a long nine-year effort to finally bring a business incubator to the Eastern Shore. The ESIC construction is expected to be completed by as early as the end of this year with full occupancy available by the beginning of next year.

Maryland already boasts an incubator network that is one of the strongest in the country with a growing membership of 30 incubators and accelerators throughout the state. With this incubator, the Eastern Shore will be tapping into a statewide network of entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic collaboration.

We could not be more excited for what this potential means for the Eastern Shore. Soon the collective assets of our state's incubator network will be available to support the Shore's startup community. The ESIC underscores Governor Hogan's mandate that Maryland – all of Maryland – is "Open for Business." Our Maryland incubators are more than just centralized locations for companies to locate. They often serve as the first and primary access points into the state's vibrant entrepreneurial community for new companies. They allow businesses to connect with each other, as well as experts, investors, and a wealth of resources across the state.

Incubators provide an important testing ground for young businesses. Startup companies are often created just with one's conviction, creativity, and courage as the only corporate assets and may lack the connections needed to succeed. At incubators, experienced hands can help these entrepreneurs to find a market for their ideas and can help shape a product or service. At the ESIC, up to 15 Eastern Shore companies can be nurtured at one time, helping them through the earliest stages of growth that, often through no fault of their own, prove fatal for developing companies.

Incubators like ESIC are important to any state, to any economy. But they are especially important to Maryland. Our small businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators play a critical role in keeping our economy dynamic, competitive and fresh. Growth at an incubator can put young companies in position to hire some of the supremely talented Maryland workers our schools produce every year. Maryland is #1 in AP tests, #1 in PhD scientists and engineers, #2 in employed technical workers, and #3 in bachelor's degrees. Incubators and the companies they nurture are helping us put those people to work solving the great challenges facing our world today.

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