iCenter plans take shape as renovations near completion

Renovations to the Stamford Innovation Center are nearing completion, as iCenter officials partnering with the Business Council of Fairfield County work to finalize an agreement with Connecticut Innovations Inc. to sponsor one of two initial hubs for startups.

Separately, the Business Council of Westchester, based in White Plains, announced a partnership Aug. 6 with Boston-based Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to help provide access to capital for small businesses in urban areas.

The Westchester County Association, also in White Plains, began accepting applications to its newly formed business accelerator July 19.

Business advocates and investors say there is a renewed interest across the greater New York region in funding startups that, by and large, struggled to generate interest and secure capital in the wake of the recession.

Christopher Bruhl, president and CEO of the Business Council of Fairfield County, said the movement comes in response to a “realization that this was an area of the economy that we have to do a lot more about.”

“There”™s been a growing awareness that you need to have strategies around encouraging the conversion of an idea into a venture, a venture into a business (and) a business into a growing enterprise that employs capital and people and that produces products, services and wealth,” Bruhl said.

Connecticut Innovations, a state-backed vehicle designed to promote entrepreneurship, launched its Innovation Ecosystem initiative with hopes of creating a statewide network of business accelerators.

On June 25, the organization”™s board of directors unanimously voted to approve two allocations of up to $1.12 million each for the development of a Stamford hub by the Stamford iCenter and the Business Council, and the development of a New Haven hub by the Economic Development Corp. of New Haven.

The board noted at its July meeting that Connecticut Innovations approved $26.6 million of investments during its 2012 fiscal year, which concluded June 30, more than doubling the $13.1 million it invested in new and existing companies in its 2011 fiscal year.

As of the board”™s July 23 meeting, contracts had not yet been finalized for the two hubs.

Bruhl said the agreements could be finalized as soon as next month.

As partners, the Stamford iCenter will lease office space to startups, providing them with access to mentoring and educational opportunities and to service providers, while the Business Council will focus primarily on matching established companies with potential investors.

Since its launch in February, the Stamford iCenter has been actively working to generate awareness through a series of events and partnerships with the likes of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Pitney Bowes Inc., as renovations progress at its 16,000-square-foot facility in downtown Stamford.

Peter Propp, vice president of marketing for the iCenter, said renovations are expected to be completed by September, at which point the iCenter will ramp up efforts to recruit startups.

Barry Schwimmer, a co-founder and managing partner of the iCenter, said the organization is not seeking “to reinvent the wheel.”

“We have all the assets here, all the components here for a dynamic startup and entrepreneurial environment,” Schwimmer said. “What we really see ourselves as is a catalyst, a provider of services. We really believe that once we establish this, by establishing a nexus around entrepreneurial development … we”™re going to breed some really fantastic businesses here.”

Both the Business Council and the iCenter expect to contribute capital of their own to the Stamford hub, in addition to seeking to identify other sources of private capital.

Bruhl and Schwimmer said their respective organizations”™ plans would move forward regardless of funding from Connecticut Innovations; however, Bruhl said state backing has been “essential” to boosting interest and funding for startups.

“While things would have happened, can you accelerate the positive parts of cycles, can you mitigate the negative parts of cycles? I think that”™s what”™s happening with the public sector”™s engagement here,” Bruhl said. “It”™s an effort to accelerate something into a pace that will bring more growth, more jobs now rather than it gradually growing over time.

Pitney Bowes Inc. will host a discussion Aug. 22 at the Stamford Innovation Center for startups and other interested businesses on how they can leverage its technology in digital and physical customer communications management to create new products or add value to existing products.

The event is free, with dinner provided by Pitney Bowes. Those looking to attend are asked to register in advance at stamfordicenter.com.