ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION: THE ROLE AND FEASIBILITY OF A SMALL BUSINESS INCUBATOR IN JOHNSON COUNTY

Abstract

As a fundamental shift from a product-based, industrial economy to a service-based, information intensive economy has occurred, the contributions of innovative small businesses and entrepreneurship to economic growth have been highlighted. Policy makers, particularly at the state and local levels, have realized that a healthy entrepreneurial environment must exist for these firms to succeed, and have responded by adopting initiatives to provide (or broker) financial, technical, and management assistance. Many of these new strategies are designed to create an entrepreneurial infra­structure which can reduce the effects of problems encountered during start-up and early maturation. An increasingly popular such tool for promoting long-term development objectives and nurturing "homegrown• entrepreneurs is the small business incubator.