Incubating Ideas and Innovations

State Journal, The, October, 2003 by Forinash, Danny

West Virginia University is preparing to open its own business incubator next month, and the effort is one of many throughout the state attempting to fertilize ideas and initiate economic growth.

"It's a critical link in a long chain," Russel Sobel, director of WVU's Entrepreneurship Center said. "When you're starting from an idea and ending up with a successful commercial venture, the incubator is critical at the startup stage for companies working with high technology or requiring specific knowledge."

incubators, Sobel said, are for entrepreneurs who need help to nurture a great idea. A retail business, although also difficult to launch, can find its way to the market more easily than one specific product.

The WVU incubator is on an unused floor in the...

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