The Town of Cochrane has hatched a plan to move ahead with its incubator at the Station, which should allow entrepreneurs to huddle together and receive the support they need to grow into fully formed entities by this summer.
The operational plan now allows administration to take advantage of a federal grant to provide programming and contracted resources to assist in the day-to-day operations for what’s to be known as the Incubator.
Council approved the Cochrane Business Incubator Operational Plan and approved $50,000 from operational reserves to obtain a Regional Innovation Ecosystems grant from PrairiesCan, the federal regional development agency that helps diversify the economy by supporting business, innovation and economic development in the prairie provinces.
While the Station opened its doors officially on Nov. 8, 2022, there has not been a lot of noticeable activity at the 360 Railway St. W location since then.
But according to the projected timelines set out at the council meeting on March 13, that is about to change.
The Incubator program will have an online presence by March 31, start accepting applications between April 15 and 30, hire a point person on contract by May 1 to 15, and is shooting for moving the first ‘Incubator members’ into the space between June 1 and 15.
By the time the program is up and running, it will also have finalized protocols around after-hours access to the building by partners and members – something that was highlighted as a need in initial feedback from interested parties.
The central aim of developing the incubator idea at the Station is to make the area a gathering spot for all kinds of activities, as stated by executive director, development and infrastructure services Drew Hyndman at the meeting. He said the Town is looking to make the Station “the main intersection for business in the community moving forward.”
Hyndman said the cornerstones of the incubator idea will be such things as inspiration, trust, exchange, support, connection, sharing and teamwork.
Many of those positive buzz words have been commonly heard in business brainstorming sessions for years. But one word that Hyndman focused on during his March 13 presentation is not commonly heard in presentations like these.
“Collisions, this is what we’re going to look to, when we have those collisions, the ideas, the strategy, the goals the success. This is what we’re trying to achieve in this space,” he said.
The Velocity Garage, an entrepreneurial start-up facility at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, served as inspiration for the idea. At the Velocity Garage, more than 400 companies were incubated in 10 years.
Overall goals include helping entrepreneurs market, sell, and improve their innovative new products.
Council seemed supportive of the initiative – as they have been since inception – but they also were clear about wanting to see regular comprehensive updates on measures of success.
“Obviously this is a pretty exciting thing for our town, and we haven’t even got to the application stage yet,” said Coun. Marni Fedeyko, before asking about how outcomes will be reported.
“Success will ultimately be determined by seeing active businesses graduate from our program and operating in our community,” Hyndman said.
Coun. Alex Reid asked if there would be annual update reports for overall usage of the Station similar to the ones provided by The Velocity Garage, and was assured by administration that type of information would be forthcoming as the site gets fully operational.
The so-called ‘innovation ecosystem’ philosophy includes partnering with investment funds, universities industry, government, and non-governmental organizations like Innovate Cochrane and Cochrane Tourism.
As announced last year, The Station will also act as a point of service for Cochrane On-demand Local Transit (COLT) and commuter services provided through Cochrane partners On-it Regional Transit, for public transportation access to Calgary’s downtown and the northwest Brentwood neighbourhood, and SWIFT Mini Thni Transit Service, for access to Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
The Cochrane Information Centre and Economic Development will also operate out of The Station to provide visitor, resident and business services in the heart of Cochrane.
In addition to supporting transit with a centralized transfer location, sheltered waiting area and public washrooms, the relocated Cochrane Information Centre at The Station is up and running and will provide information on local attractions and businesses for residents and visitors.
Cochrane services, including animal and business licensing and payment services, are accessible there now, as is the Town's economic development office.
The Station also is designed to accommodate the future development of a train platform for regional train service bringing commuters to and from work or visitors to historic downtown Cochrane.
