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George Low, Rensselaer’s President
when the incubator was conceived, said “The educational
process of an institution like RPI depends upon the ‘laboratory
environment’ that can only be found in growing, high
technology companies. This type of laboratory cannot be duplicated
in an exclusively academic situation. Newly spawned companies
depend upon innovative ideas, and advice and counsel in science,
engineering and management; they depend also on a continuing
infusion of new people. Both the ideas and the people come
from universities. Finally, RPI’s actions will help
stimulate the economic growth of the region and the state
by attracting, nurturing and keeping high technology companies.”
The incubator has developed in three major phases, coinciding with opening of the three incubator buildings and the financing for the renovation of each. (The H building opened in 1980 was converted to back to campus administrative offices in 1997.)
- Phase One: 1980
- Phase Two: 1982
- Phase Three: 1992
Phase One: 1980
Rensselaer’s President and Trustees decided to create Rensselaer’s incubator in 1980 following completion of a feasibility study. During this period, several early incubator companies operated out of informal incubator space in the basement of a campus academic building. The first permanent incubator building was the plainly-named H building, a 3,500 square foot, single-story brick building used by Rensselaer for storage. The H building was renovated into office space using a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) which Rensselaer matched with $50,000 of its own funds.
Phase Two: 1982
The H building was filled with incubator companies immediately following the completion of renovations.It soon became apparent that there was sufficient demand for incubator space to support a much larger facility. In 1981 Rensselaer’s 42,000 square foot J building, formerly a Catholic Church home for “wayward girls,” was selected to be the next incubator expansion. The J building required significant renovation, which was financed by a $600,000 loan from the City of Troy Industrial Development Agency and a $200,000 loan from the New York State Urban Development Corporation. Renovations were completed in 1982 and the J building has been nearly fully occupied ever since. Debt service on the two renovation loans for the J building has been fully supported from the incubator operating budget. The New York State loan was paid in full in 1997. The City of Troy loan came due in 1991 with a substantial balloon payment, which Rensselaer paid off and refinanced to the incubator. The incubator “department” of Rensselaer will continue to service and pay off this debt through an internal transfer of funds from the incubator operating budget until 2005.
Phase Three: 1992
In response to ongoing demand for incubator laboratory space of a type not available in the original two incubator buildings, Rensselaer’s administration “loaned” unused portions of a laboratory building in the nearby City of Watervliet for incubator company use. This 1964 vintage building was originally designed for research and had most recently housed an electronics research center complete with Class 100 clean rooms. However, this research was moved to a new state-of-the-art campus facility in 1988, leaving the “Watervliet Facility” largely empty and stripped. The incubator gradually cleaned and reactivated portions of the building as new incubator companies needed lab space. Since 1992, the incubator has expanded in stages and now occupies the entire 32,000 net square feet of this building, housing 7 client companies. In 1997, the building’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems were renovated for higher energy efficiency. Grant funding for the renovation of the Watervliet Facility was provided by the New York State Science & Technology Foundation ($200,000) and the Empire State Development Corporation ($223,000). |
