ISU plots business incubator

Illinois State University (ISU) is considering basing its new business incubator in space leased from a major local property development, the university’s public radio station, WGLT, reported on Monday.
A section of the fourth floor of the $30m new-build complex, dubbed Trail East, has been reserved for the incubator, though ISU is still to come to a formal agreement with developers Bush Construction.
In an email to GUV, a spokesman for ISU stressed Bush Construction had referred to the university incubator as a “potential” tenant. ISU recently issued a request for information on possible spaces for lease, however no formal announcement has been made as to the program’s eventual location.
ISU’s spokesman said: “The university is exploring the possibility of space in the Trail East building but has no finalised plans at this point.”
Trail East is scheduled to open in 2020 and will be situated a few blocks from ISU’s campus at Uptown Circle, Bloomington.
Until 2016, ISU operated a Small Business Development Center providing local entrepreneurs with advice and support, however the new incubator is anticipated to be a more expansive offering; with offices, mentoring and programming space linking up a greater number of university and local economic development resources.
ISU also currently runs a student-orientated startup program called the Means Center Accelerator through its George R & Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
WGLT had reported that an unnamed “multinational technology” firm would share the fourth floor at Trail East with ISU, leasing a 5,800-foot quadrant.
Other prospective tenants include a food hall and customer engagement consultancy as well as architectural design firm Farnsworth Group, which plans to consolidate its offices in the complex.