The way Roger E. Race sees it, he’s in the middle of something big. And, in part, he has the city of New Bedford to thank for it.
Race and his company, BOT USA Inc., are the first occupants of the Quest Center, an incubator created by the city to foster business upstarts in the marine technology sector.
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Open since September, the program provides space for young companies for as little as $250 per month for a single-person workspace, or up to $1,000 for larger office spaces.
Housed in the third-floor of a rehabilitated school on Purchase Street in downtown New Bedford, the incubator has a total of about 4,000 square feet available for startups, with a T1 Internet connection, a conference room and – this impressed Race – a receptionist.
“For a small business, it’s perfect,” Race said. “It’s like, ‘Here it is. The car’s gassed up and ready to go. Just start making phone calls and start making money.’ ”
Robert Luongo, executive director of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, said the city had wanted to create a business incubator for years. With a $1 million federal economic development grant and $1 million in city money, the Quest Center became a reality.
“The idea is that these companies stay here for no more than two to three years and then we help them grow… in New Bedford or in the region,” Luongo said. “The more these companies grow, the more they’re going to employ people and create job opportunities and help the economy of the area.”
BOT is the only tenant so far, but Luongo said that the city has been in talks with other companies, and three may be signing up shortly. New Bedford is looking to attract companies that have received Small Business Innovation Research grants through the U.S. Navy, Luongo said. In addition, officials have been recruiting at marine science and technology trade shows.
Along with space and amenities, the Quest Center provides guidance to tenants, offering advice on accounting, networking, technical issues, legal issues, etc. And, recognizing that financing can be difficult for startups, the center plans to work with each company to craft a specific plan, which may include micro-loans and small debt financing provided through the New Bedford EDC and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Race said the center helped him get his business plan off the ground. BOT USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian-based Brooke Ocean Technology, works in areas such as homeland security and water-quality testing. The company’s projects include researching and designing instruments to measure the level of plankton in the water and a remote underwater warning system for homeland security systems.
Businesses such as Race’s, which make up a growing sector in New England, are what the city wanted to target with the Quest Center, Luongo said.
According to a study released last spring by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, the UMass system’s public service, outreach and economic development unit, the marine science and technology industry has grown into a “robust cluster,” with 481 firms employing 38,906 people and generating sales of more than $4.8 billion in 2004.
Of those companies, 178 firms were in southeastern Massachusetts, which the report notes “has traditionally struggled to attract technology firms,” and in Rhode Island.
“The concentration of marine science and technology business and research institutions positions Massachusetts as a global leader,” the report states.
Race sees New Bedford as a perfect location for BOT USA. Nearby are renowned marine science schools, such as UMass Dartmouth and the University of Rhode Island, where he can recruit talented young engineers and interns, he said.
Also, with the density of businesses in his sector, Race said, he has easy access to other companies he works with, such as Raytheon, which has facilities in nearby Portsmouth.
“This whole southern sector is, I think, kind of primed to become the next big thing,”
he said.
