MaryBeth Matzek: River Falls looks to launch business incubator

This is an excerpt from a column posted at BizOpinion

The area around River Falls, which straddles Pierce and St. Croix counties in western Wisconsin and is about 45 minutes away from the Twin Cities, is one of the fastest growing areas in the state. With all those people streaming in, plus being home to a University of Wisconsin campus, the area is ideal for entrepreneurs seeking to start their own businesses.

To help budding business owners, a coalition has come together to create a business incubator in River Falls. Led by the UW-River Falls’ Center for Innovation and Business Development and the city, the goal is to create a physical place where entrepreneurs can develop and hone their ideas into thriving businesses. There will also be programs and classes in place to help entrepreneurs develop their ideas into viable businesses.

River Falls City Administrator Scot Simpson says the idea for an incubator has been around for a while in the community, but really has taken off in the past year as the university grew its Center for Innovation and Business Development.

“There’s a lot of small business growth potential in this part of the state,” he says. “We’re one of the fastest growing parts of Wisconsin and UW-River Falls has seen a lot of interest in their center programming since it started about a year ago.”

The business incubator would include 30,000-square-feet of flexible space for both manufacturing and offices. To make the project a reality, the partners – which besides the city and university include both counties, Chippewa Valley Technical College and local businesses – is looking to the state and federal government for help. Wisconsin legislators included $750,000 in the most recent state budget for the project, but that’s contingent on the project receiving a $1.4 million federal grant.

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