This article describes the university business incubator (UBI) as a strategy being employed for promoting the development of new research/technology-based firms (RTBFs). The business incubator is widely believed as providing a nurturing environment for new business start-ups, however, the role played by university relationships in providing a nurturing environment for the survival and growth of small RTBFs has escaped systematic review in the U.S. due to a lack of historical data. To fill this gap, this paper presents empirical data on two established UBI programs: the Enterprise Development Inc. at Case Western Reserve University, and the Ben Craig Center at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. These cases provide insights for policy makers and aspiring entrepreneurs into the various facility design, management policy, and value-added aspects of this modem tool employed by some entrepreneurial universities as a strategy for supporting the development of new RTBFs.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1047831096900048