Taking advantage of the relatively strong market for federal contractors and the upsurge of start-up businesses in the area, the bwtech@UMBC Research and Technology Park at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County has launched a second business incubator program.

The Advantage Incubator@bwtech caters specifically to new technology companies owned by minorities, women or veterans that are focused on federal services, said Ellen Hemmerly, the park's executive director.

"In operating incubators, you really have to be monitoring the trends and you really do have to be responding to what the market demand is, and that's what I see us doing here," Hemmerly said.

The new incubator's location in the park's Research Park Drive campus -- as opposed to the Gun Road location off campus of the other incubator -- is attractive for young companies because it puts them within a federally designated "HUBzone."

That designation avails them of federal contracting benefits aimed at improving historically underutilized business zones.

One requirement of becoming a certified HUBzone company is that 35 percent of the company's employees must live within a HUBzone -- though not necessarily the one the company is in.

That requirement has sparked interest among the incubator's companies in hiring UMBC students and graduates who live in the area, said Alex Euler, the park's associate director of business development.

"It actually works out well," he said.

Both park campuses are within a state designated enterprise zone, which means advantages in state contracting processes.

The creation of the newest incubator continues a pattern of growth at the park that began in earnest when the slowing of the economy last year sparked a boom in the number of entrepreneurs starting out on their own, Hemmerly said.

The park has brought more than a dozen new companies to its incubator and accelerator programs in the last year, she said.

"We are continuing to see a lot of early stage companies that are looking for business assistance, and many of them are looking to join an incubator," Hemmerly said.

"So certainly, this (new incubator) is a reflection that there is more entrepreneurial activity, but it's also a reflection of the fact that the federal government is continuing to contract with a lot of businesses, including small businesses," she said.

According to Euler, the creation of the incubator was "demand driven," largely by companies interested in locating within the federal HUBzone.

The new incubator space is in offices formerly used by the university's Erickson School of Aging, which announced faculty and staff cuts in the spring due to budget concerns, Euler said.

Four companies, each with fewer than 10 employees, are currently in that space.

The four share conference rooms and other office amenities such as a kitchen and fax and copy machines, Euler said.

One of the companies, Premier Management Corp., moved to the new incubator from the park's other incubator program, which it entered in December.

The network security consulting company's leadership wanted to be in the HUBzone from the start, Euler said, but before the Erickson space became available, there was no space.

Premier is joined by Farfield Systems, an IT and systems engineering services and training provider; CardioMed Device Consultants, a medical device regulations consulting provider; and the Nixon Group, a healthcare and financial services provider.

To take advantage of HUBzone benefits, the companies must become HUBzone certified, Euler said.

Of the four, only Farfield, a veteran-owned company, is certified. The others are working to get the certification, Euler said.

Euler said the hope is that the program will bring in enough revenue in its first year to warrant its expansion.

"I think there are a lot of (businesses) out there who are looking for a place to land," he said.

According to Hemmerly, successful incubators increase the viability of the park as a whole because the young companies "can be future residents of the research park as they grow.

"It's very pragmatic from that standpoint," she said.

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