Commercial developer Kleban Properties L.L.C. and the town of Fairfield are teaming with Fairfield University to develop a new business incubator scheduled to launch this fall.
Kleban Properties is in the process of building out a 1,300-square-foot space at 1499 Post Road in downtown Fairfield where the Fairfield University Accelerator and Mentoring Enterprise will be housed. With organizers targeting a September launch, the incubator is open to any applicants and will initially house up to five startups.
While the precise model has yet to be finalized, startups that are accepted to join the incubator will likely receive three to six months of free lodging, access to mentoring from Fairfield University”™s Dolan School of Business and local business owners and free or discounted services, such as legal, accounting and marketing help.
Tentative plans would allow participants to stay on for nine months or longer, but organizers said that may require some level of matching contributions from the participants once they “graduate” from the initial three- to six-month development program.
“There”™s so much talent here in Fairfield County,” said Diane Salerno, a project manager for Kleban Properties. “There”™s a lot of talk about Silicon Valley and what”™s going on out there … but we have talent right here in Fairfield County, right here in the town of Fairfield and we want to be able to tap into and nurture that talent.” Salerno will represent Kleban ”” with properties throughout Connecticut as well as in Alabama, Florida and Vermont ”” as program administrator for the incubator.
The incubator space, which is above Fairfield University”™s Post Road bookstore, will feature work cubicles, open workspaces and private meeting rooms. It is just blocks from the Fairfield Metro-North Railroad station in the center of the downtown.
Salerno emphasized that the incubator is open to any startup and not just Fairfield University students. Additionally, the organizers plan to hold a number of seminars and events covering all aspects of entrepreneurship that will be open to the public.
“The level of enthusiasm from everyone we”™ve talked to is amazing,” she said.
Already, several Fairfield firms and individuals, including an attorney, an accountant and a business insurance firm have committed to sponsoring the incubator and working with participants. “It wasn”™t a hard sell at all ”” people are very excited about this,” Salerno said, noting that organizers are actively seeking out other sponsors and service providers to assist with the incubator.
Chris L. Huntley, a professor of information systems and operations management in the Dolan School of Business and director of the school”™s business plan competition for student entrepreneurs, said the incubator represents an extension of the university”™s existing efforts to promote entrepreneurship.
“We”™re able to leverage some of our current experience, but we”™ve about reached the limit of what we can do on campus,” Huntley said. “This allows us to extend into town in a nice partnership with the local business community and the town itself.” He said the partners would also seek to work with already-established incubators and entrepreneurial programs in other portions of the county and the state.
Kleban Properties, the university and the town will initially support the program, but Huntley said the goal is to eventually compete for state funds, outside grants and investor dollars. He said the incubator would eventually seek to be classified as a nonprofit.
“We”™re working on getting some angel investment types involved,” he said. “The intention is to partner with some of the state and semi-private kind of agencies that are out there for this. That”™s sort of a long-term goal though ”” for now we just want it to be able to stand on its own until we get all our ducks in order.”
Mark Barnhart, director of economic development for the town of Fairfield, said his department, as a municipal entity, along with the university, as a nonprofit, is uniquely positioned to compete for some sources of funding that wouldn”™t be available to a private firm.
“We would expect Fairfield University and the town to be able to leverage some of those resources that a private company couldn”™t necessarily obtain,” Barnhart said. “And we do have some funds available to assist the small businesses that might be located at the incubator, to help them hopefully grow in Fairfield and continue to flourish here.”
All three organizers stressed the benefits of the public, private and nonprofit elements of the partnership.
Kleban, as a private firm, “can react very quickly,” Salerno said. “We were building the space out even while discussions over the incubator were still being finalized.”
