Tech incubator supporter hatches new plan

Tampa's technology incubator may be dead, but hope springs eternal.

TechVillage, the year-old business incubator on the campus of the University of Tampa, closed its doors last week, citing a lack of community and university support.

But Cory Tellbuescher, a former TechVillage board member, is determined to re-ignite interest in the concept. One reason: the possibility of nabbing a $200,000 federal grant to subsidize a new-business nurturing effort.

Tellbuescher, director of sales and marketing for SeaView Video Technology Inc. in St. Petersburg, is working with the Young-Rainey STAR Center in Largo, which applied for the grant from the Department of Energy.

"I think we're going to have to get it off the ground ourselves before we get a commitment from the DOE," Tellbuescher said after a meeting last week with representatives from the STAR Center and local colleges. "We've got to sew up the holes and show them we have a sustainable business model. The DOE money is still available, but I don't expect we'll see it until January, and that's only if we do everything right."

To prove the Tampa Bay area is willing to support an incubator, with a sizeable assist from the federal government, Tellbuescher will try to raise about $100,000 locally.

"Will Pinellas County underwrite this? Will the cities? Will Hillsborough come in?" he asked. "This doesn't cost a whole lot of money."

Tellbuescher isn't discouraged by the experience of TechVillage's organizers, who found lots of verbal support but few community groups willing to part with cold hard cash.

"I personally don't believe there's a lack of support," he said. "An incubator is a great economic development system. We really need it in our community."

Said Marty Donsky, chairman of the now-dissolved TechVillage board, "If there's new energy out there, I wish them well. Go for it."

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