The city of Stamford is in negotiations to convert its Old Town Hall into an entrepreneurship center in the heart of downtown Stamford, with no deal finalized as of deadline.
In his “state of the city” address in early April, Mayor Michael Pavia credited the idea to Kevin Segalla, CEO of the Connecticut Film Center and a partner in the group that bought the former Clairol plant in Stamford, which has since been leased to New York City-based Chelsea Piers for a sports and entertainment complex.
Old Town Hall has defied easy reuse despite its enviable location, in part due to an aging structure whose design is ill-fitted for many business purposes. With a startup incubator ensconced, supporters hope to breathe further life into a downtown district that many see as becoming more and more appealing to young urban professionals.
“When you are walking down the street here, are you bumping into entrepreneurs or are you bumping into traders?” said Eric Dale, an attorney in the Stamford office of Robinson & Cole L.L.P.
That could be changing in favor of the former ”“ as reported by the Fairfield County Business Journal last month, the University of Connecticut hopes to create a comprehensive digital media studies program centered at UConn Stamford, with the goal of interconnecting with local businesses and professionals in the sector.
This month, New York state Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand filed federal legislation to free up $250 million in funding for incubators nationally. It is one of multiple initiatives Gillibrand is proposing to help small business, including savings accounts that would allow entrepreneurs to sock away up to $10,000 annually on a tax-free basis and a 25 percent tax credit on angel investments in startups.
Incubators have been hatching in the tristate area without assistance from Gillibrand. In late March, automaker BMW announced it would launch a $100 million incubator in New York City to tap into the Big Apple”™s large workforce in mobile and location-based technologies.
Invoking the spirit of Otis Elevator Co., the city of Yonkers is launching a business incubator dubbed Y-Enterprise, with the goal of giving a lift to upstart businesses in the very building where Otis once thrived.
In Farmington, the University of Connecticut Health Center launched an incubator last year focused on companies commercializing advances from stem cell technologies and other life sciences. And in Bridgeport, Connecticut Innovations has been running a business incubator since last fall adjacent to the campus of the University of Bridgeport.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch was scheduled among the featured speakers at an April 15 conference in New York City on “innovation and the global city” on how technology and new management techniques are transforming tristate-area cities ”“ as was Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, drawing on his 14 years as mayor of Stamford.
The Connecticut Venture Group wants to lure Startup America to make Connecticut one of the first states for a “virtual” incubator program it is introducing. And Connecticut Innovations wants to create its own virtual program to address what it says is demand outstripping the supply of available incubator space.
“CI has recognized that there is a gap in the marketplace in the incubator world,” said Peter Longo, president of Connecticut Innovations, testifying on the subject in Hartford last month.
