Established more than 25 years ago, the award-winning Louisiana Business & Technology Center, a small-business incubator on LSU’s South Campus, is one of the most important components of the Capital Region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. But while greater Baton Rouge has many such assets, economic development wonks have long complained that the pieces don’t fit very well together.
As Business Report details in its new cover story, financial, cultural and logistical hurdles have kept the region from reaching its potential as a breeding ground for new companies, local leaders say. However, as new players start working on the problems, there is new optimism that progress might be on the way.
In 2010, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Louisiana Economic Development, LSU, Southern University and the Research Park Corporation commissioned the Regional Innovation Strategy to assess research and business incubation activities in the region, identify best practices for incubators, and develop a plan to promote “the success of technology-based entrepreneurial development in the region.”
The RIS report included two major recommendations: Create a regional organization to promote “innovation,” and establish a university research park. The study focused on three major incubators: LBTC, the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard and LSU’s Louisiana Emerging Technology Center, which focuses on the biotechnology, life science, agriculture and environmental industries. Today, LSU operates five different incubator projects, the Tech Park has three separate programs, and the Dixie Business Center is operating in Denham Springs. Southern University’s incubator is slated to open in late 2015.
“The way I see Baton Rouge right now is that I feel like we are ready to launch,” says Dima Ghawi, the talent development manager for IBM in Baton Rouge who serves on RPC’s board of directors. “There is so much going on and there is so much potential.”
Read the complete cover story, and also check out a sidebar story on the growing incubator landscape in the Capital Region. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
