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South Bend Redevelopment Commission <br />Regular Meeting -June 4, 2010 <br />be enormously important in marketing <br />Ignition Park. Ms. Hathaway noted that the <br />city is doing an overlay zone plan in order to <br />protect that low vibration and <br />electromagnetic area. We don't want any of <br />that marketing potential compromised. Ms. <br />Hathaway also stressed the enormous value <br />of the city's metronet to technology <br />development in Ignition Park. That took <br />enormous foresight and collaboration to <br />accomplish. It places South Bend <br />competitive at a level that is unprecedented <br />for a town of South Bend's size. <br />Where do we need to be? Ms. Hathaway <br />has been doing much research and <br />investigation to answer that question. She <br />has attended seminars on technology transfer, <br />commercialization, technology park <br />management, nanotechnology, etc. She's <br />attended conferences for the Association of <br />University Research Parks at the Midwest <br />regional level and at the international level. <br />She has connected with tech park managers <br />and tech park developers from all over the <br />country. Tech parks are not a standard real <br />estate venture. Buildings do not bring tech <br />businesses here. The start-up business needs <br />peripheral resources brought to it as in an <br />incubator. While trying to figure out a new <br />product, they are also trying to figure out <br />how to run a business. They have little <br />money; they work around the clock with few <br />staff. The city may have to supply legal, <br />accounting and business support to these <br />start-up businesses while they focus on <br />getting their product to market. We may <br />need to provide funding assistance. We may <br />need to provide educational programs. Third <br />or fourth stage businesses don't need those <br />kinds of assistance, but South Bend needs to <br />be prepared to offer them to start-up <br />