Joseph Huang, president and owner of MicroDysis, a biotechnology and medical device development company in New Jersey, got its start as an incubated business at the Rutgers EcoComplex in 2007.
The Rutgers EcoComplex, located in Bordentown, NJ, was ranked first in the Best Business Incubator Category in NJBiz Magazine’s 2018 Reader Rankings. Rutgers Food Innovation Center was one of two other finalists also recognized in the “Best Business Incubator” category in the publication, New Jersey’s leading business journal. More than 8,000 clients, colleagues and peers of businesses in New Jersey voted for the best organizations across 52 categories.
“We are thrilled to have the EcoComplex recognized by NJBIZ readers,” says Margaret Brennan-Tonetta, associate vice president for economic development at Rutgers. “A large number of companies get value from the comprehensive services offered at the EcoComplex and these companies bring employment and economic benefits to the state,” adds Brennan-Tonetta, who also serves as an associate director for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).
Established in 2001, the EcoComplex is a multidisciplinary “Clean Energy Innovation Center” that occupies 32,000 square feet of office and wet-lab facility that has served more than 1,000 companies, to date, through its affiliated programs. These include the EcoIgnite Clean Energy Proof of Concept Center and Accelerator Program, which was established in 2017 with a $439,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop regional clean energy and energy efficiency business support system.
At the time of the grant, Serpil Guran, director of the EcoComplex, said, “the invention-to-innovation pathway is a complex system, and incubation and acceleration programs are well recognized as important components to successfully bring innovations to the market place.”
The Rutgers EcoIgnite program, which targets renewable energy (sustainable biomass, wind, solar, and waste-based energy) and energy efficiency sectors, “will assist innovators in our region in commercializing their technologies by leveraging a wide range of business development expertise.”
Donna Schaffner, associate director for food safety, quality assurance and training at Rutgers Food Innovation Center, presents a quarterly Food Business Basics seminar. Photo credit: Sho Islam.
The Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC), which was recognized as a finalist in the “Best Business Incubator” category of the NJ Biz Magazine’s 2018 Reader Rankings, is a global, award-winning food business incubator located in Bridgeton and Piscataway. Rutgers FIC, which was established in 2001, has provided extensive programs in training and workforce development, customized business and technical mentoring services as well as USDA- and FDA-inspected manufacturing facilities for more than 2,000 food service clients, to date.
In addition, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority recently approved the EcoComplex and the Food Innovation Center for its Incubator & Collaborative Workspace Rent Initiative, known as NJ Ignite, which provides up to $150,000 in rent subsidy for tenants who locate in those facilities.
Read the complete 2018 Reader Rankings; the Business Incubator Category is on page 14. Information on the Rutgers EcoComplex can be found at the incubator’s website.
