NBIA has awarded its first Soft Landings designations
to ATP Innovations in Sydney, Australia, and Wallonia
Space Logistics in Liege, Belgium. Through this new
program, NBIA recognizes incubators that are especially
capable at helping nondomestic companies enter the
incubator's domestic market.
ATP and Wallonia were chosen for their slate of business
services for nondomestic firms and their demonstrated
success at helping firms enter their market, says Tim
Kresse, NBIA director of membership.
Incubating nondomestic firms takes more than the standard
set of incubation services, Kresse notes. "Soft
Landings is a recognition of an incubator's focus on
welcoming nondomestic firms into their domestic market
with cultural translation services, help getting through
red tape, and other programs," he says.
ATP, a joint venture of four Australian universities,
offers its clients (both domestic and nondomestic)
a comprehensive set of services from initial planning
through seed capital. It also helped launch the World
Innovation Network, an international network of incubators
and enterprise hubs devoted to global commercialization
of emerging technologies in ICT, electronics and life
sciences. Through WIN, clients of participating incubators
can receive assistance from other participants around
the globe. Learn more about ATP at www.atp-innovations.com.au.
In Belgium, Wallonia accentuates its standard incubation
services with assistance tailored specifically to nondomestic
firms. The services include detailed economic and business
data for the Walloon region; an extensi ve network
of contacts in management, finance, labor and investment;
and partnerships with attorneys who can help clients
set up a business in Belgium. More information is available
on Wallonia's Web site at www.wsl.be.
NBIA will release nomination materials for 2006 Soft
Landings designations in January. Applicants must demonstrate
a focus on aiding companies from outside their national
borders that are entering that domestic market for
the first time. The emphasis is on welcoming companies
into a market, not helping clients with exports. Other
factors the judges consider are the incubator's methods
of promoting its services and demonstrated success
with nondomestic clients. Designees will be recognized
at NBIA's 20th International Conference on Business
Incubation, to be held April 30-May 3 in St. Louis.
For more information on Soft Landings, visit www.nbia.org/resource_center/soft_landings/details.php.
