Bank upfits USC Technology Incubator
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Meeting inside NBSC's Main Street lobby: Mayor Bob Coble, NBSC Senior Vice President Jay Lasater, NBSCExecutive Vice President Boyd Jones, and USCTechnology Incubator Director Joel Stevenson.

At the corner of Lady Street and Main Street last week, moving crews trucked away furniture donated by NBSC to the USC Technology Incubator at 1225 Laurel Street.

There was enough furniture freely changing hands to upfit about a dozen offices. The bank's main lobby was getting new furniture, and the perfectly serviceable used furniture was an appropriate and appreciated gift to the incubator.

Last year, NBSC's first gift to the incubator was a $5,000 donation. As the incubator gains momentum, according to bank Executive Vice President Boyd Jones, NBSC will keep pace with the expanding incubator.

Jones and Jay Lasater, NBSC's senior vice president, expressed optimism in associating with home-grown start- up businesses, particularly the ones at the USC Technology Incubator.

The incubator's move to 1225 Laurel Street enlarged its office offerings by a factor of four to 43,000 square feet. The next anticipated expansion includes "wet lab" space, probably somewhere connected with the university's Innovista.

Mayor Bob Coble shared his pride over the USC Technology Incubator's success. So far, 17 companies have graduated from the assisted start- up program. Out of the 17, one has shut down and one has sold, but the other 15 are going great guns with an average salary of $61,000. There are currently 29 companies in the incubator.

Ahead of Charleston, Charlotte, and Greenville, Columbia's USC Technology Incubator is constantly receiving visitors from other cities, places that need to know how it's done in order to start their own business incubators.

Joel Stevenson has been the incubator's director since early 1999. He honed his skills in the field as a business start- up mentor for the Advanced Technology Development Corporation at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

In August 2002, the USC Technology Incubator borrowed $160,000 from the City of Columbia, and in August 2003, the incubator paid the city back.

The city rents 1225 Laurel Street to the incubator for $1 a year, and as the last city employees soon leave the building, the incubator can rent more space to its participating companies, generating more operating income for the incubator.

Last year, the city contributed $75,000 to the USC Technology Incubator.