North Carolina and Belgium business incubators sign agreement

Officials from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's Center for Business and Technology Incubation in Asheville, N.C., signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with La Maison de l'Enterprise Incubator in Brussels, Belgium — the seventh international program to partner with AB Tech's incubator.

The agreements offer university students affiliated with all eight incubators the opportunity to conduct market research for any of the incubators' clients interested in doing business overseas, says AB Tech's former Entrepreneurial Ventures and Business Incubation Executive Director Russ Yelton.

"Incubators in other countries have companies who want to come to the U.S., and there are companies in the U.S. who want to know if their products will sell in other markets," Yelton says. "The students' experience of conducting research for these companies presents an opportunity for them to interact with entrepreneurs who genuinely need their assistance."

To determine a company's chances for success in a foreign market, students collect pertinent data, such as a company's marketing strategy and distribution plan, and examine cultural differences and government regulations. The researchers then compile their findings in an extensive report. For example, a recent report for a U.S. solar water-filtration company involving 100 student researchers from around the world was 70 pages long.

"The projects result in true in-depth analysis," Yelton says. "It gives students the experience of conducting product research — and it will look good on their resumes."

The students also experience working with their international counterparts, an added benefit in an increasingly global economy. The AB-Tech participants range from students enrolled in one of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's associate degree programs to Western Carolina University MBA students.

Additionally, Yelton has met with foreign firms who may locate at AB Tech, another positive outcome of their international agreements.

The incubator's first international agreement linked AB Tech with Yangpu Science and Technology Incubator in Shanghai, China, in 2006, followed by partnerships with another Belgium incubator — Louvain School of Management in Brussels — and with incubators in India, South Africa and two in Mexico.

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