Succession planning for incubator staff and management
No one learns how to run an incubation program in a day, yet many incubators fail to develop formal succession plans for staff or senior management. Seasoned incubation professionals weigh in on the practices they follow to ensure the programs they've built will continue to prosper once they move on.

Study reveals key characteristics of successful incubators
Adhering to certain industry best practices contributes more to incubator success than a program's age, size or regional economic conditions, according to a new study funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. This article highlights some of the most important research findings for incubation practitioners.

Communication, presentation and perseverance: Preparing entrepreneurs for commercial lending opportunities
Most start-ups bootstrap, relying on their own savings or help from friends and family to finance their ventures. The next step is debt finance, but many entrepreneurs put getting their finances in order last on their long to-do list. NBIA members share how they help prepare clients for debt financing and maintain relationships with local lenders.

Building a community in every sense of the word
In the last five years, Innovation Depot has generated more than a billion dollars in economic activity and helped revitalize the business community in Birmingham, Ala. In 2010 alone, amid the worldwide economic downturn, it spawned nearly a half-billion dollars in sales, sales impact and earnings impact, based on government metrics. Published data from the past four years demonstrate Innovation Depot's economic impact has remained steady and is now increasing.

Incubator leverages regional incubation network
Northeastern Ohio has come to be an icon of the so-called Rust Belt. It's an area where industry once thrived, but over time, various factors – high costs driving business overseas, regulations, concerns about pollution – closed the factories one after another. After a period of dormancy, that part of the world is coming back.

Entrepreneurs return to the campus classroom
When Gregg Fairbrothers began teaching "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., in 2004, he wanted to do something a little different.

Thanks to outgoing board members