Business Incubator Series: Jerry Creighton, Enterprise Development Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark (Part 2)

By guest authors Irina Patterson and Candice Arnold

Irina: How many companies have been incubated since 1988?

Jerry: I wouldn’t know. I presently have 95 companies in my center. We are the largest technology center in the country, to the best of my knowledge.

Irina: When did you start working for the incubator?

Jerry: Six, almost seven, years ago. I started as a consultant. Through the process, I was asked to take on the center as executive director.

Irina: Are all 95 companies on site?

Jerry: They’re in the incubator, per se. Seven of them are virtual. I have a program I call Without Walls (WOW). It’s a virtual program. Those are usually people who are going to come into the center full time when they need an office or a laboratory – I have offices, laboratories, and cubicles – [or] maybe they’re still working another job. Whatever the reason is, they’ll probably move in within a year or two.

Irina: What are the core benefits provided by your incubator?

Jerry: My incubator is a full-service incubator. One of them is, clearly, because we’re on the campus of NJIT. You have access to faculty, staff, and students, who can come in and work in the center.

In 2010, for instance, I had 335 students work for these companies part time … through some programs that we have set up called institute work-study programs.These are people looking for financial assistance. So, we have the job placement concept.

Companies in here can work with the faculty staff members. For example, I have laboratories, but I don’t have a clean room. The clean room is in the university. So, companies can have a lab here, but if they need clean room facilities, they can go across the street and use the university.

We have plenty of those kinds of programs. Our location is a serious competitive advantage. We’re in Newark, a densely populated area. We’re also a couple miles as the crow flies, if you will, from New York City.

Also, I have a program I put together called Get Ready for Funding. It’s my trademarked program. That program helps people write their business plans; develop presentations for investors or collaborators and elevator pitches through presentations of various sizes. I have somebody who helps design websites and work with the companies on logo designs and branding capabilities.

Some people handle the more basic kind of things. I have somebody here who can teach them how to set up and operate QuickBooks. Those are the kind of programs we have.

I have monthly meetings. I call them monthly entrepreneur gatherings, MEG meetings. I bring in specialists in a variety of areas. For example, somebody may come in and talk about how to write a private placement memorandum, how to optimize your website or whatever is needed.

I also have some pro bono sessions that I set up with law firms and various kinds of marketing groups that want to assist. They come in and I give them some conference room space. They can sit down and talk to the companies and give some counseling and advice.

We offer networking opportunities. The facilities are absolutely great. My newest building opened in 2002. It was built to be an incubator. I have two buildings. I have 110,000 square feet under one roof. As I mentioned, I have offices, cubicles and laboratories, and wet labs for people to use.

Irina: How do the students and faculty engage with the incubator?

Jerry: The faculty could be grant partners; they can do development together. If somebody wants to work with, for example, the math department because he’s working on some algorithms for whatever, he can engage the university faculty and staff to work with him on those kinds of things.

The student programs are [for] students who are looking for financial assistance. They go through the financial assistance department of NJIT. They can work part time, 20 hours a week, while they’re in school.

They can do whatever the companies need. It could be working in their major, or maybe they’re working on other things. They’re more than happy to get the work. While they’re here, they’re not only getting the degree, but they’re also getting hands-on, real-time experience they can put on their résumés.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Business Incubator Series: Jerry Creighton, Enterprise Development Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology – Newark
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