B U S I N E S S . I N C U B A T O R . H I S T O R Y

The business incubator movement was created in Batavia, NY in 1959 when the partners of Charles Mancuso & Sons bought a closed industrial complex and attempted to refill it. Joseph L. Mancuso was given the task of finding a major employer to fill the recently vacated space in an effort to combat unemployment and to restore economic vitality to the community.

After searching across the country Mr. Mancuso decided it was not possible to find a single tenant to occupy the facility. He instead started to take in any size business and do everything possible to help them grow, hire more people, and rent more space. This was the birth of the concept of the business "incubator", describing a building where small businesses were "hatched" and nurtured until they were strong enough to become independent. These mature enterprises or "graduates" would then invest in buying or building new plants when they moved out of the "nest" into the community.

Former tenants of that first incubator, the BATAVIA INDUSTRIAL CENTER, now represent millions of dollars in real estate investment and the creation of thousands of jobs in the greater Batavia area.

This idea spawned an entire industry that is now represented internationally by the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA). There are now 3,950 incubators in 68 countries around the world. Countless people have benefited from the businesses, jobs and investment generated by these nurturing facilities and programs.

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