The Louisiana Business & Technology Center at the LSU Innovation Park celebrated 28 years of success with its annual Celebration of Innovation event at the L’Auberge Conference Center in Baton Rouge on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
The LBTC was founded in 1988 by Charles F. D’Agostino — who currently serves as the Executive Director — as a business incubator. It began as a 12,000 square feet facility with only six businesses on South Stadium Drive on the University campus. In 2005, it moved to the LSU Innovation Park, just four miles from campus, and expanded to 35,000 square feet, with more than 44 private companies at the park and more than 30 businesses at the LSU Student Incubator.
The LBTC has created more than 10,000 jobs for Louisiana. It has also raised more than $84 million in funds for client companies. With the assistance of the Student Incubator, over 40 businesses out of more than 200 businesses have become permanent after graduation, employing more than 150 people. It offers services such as marketing studies, business planning, coaching, mentoring and raising capital for over 200 outreach clients’ businesses.
“We’re considered one of the top incubators in the world, really,” D’Agostino said. “The good thing is we’re all to enhance the image and the reputation of LSU and by being a leader, we’re in there with the Harvards and MITs and the Stanfords — that makes LSU looks good, which means your degree when you graduate is going to have more value than if we hadn’t done all these things.”
The Celebration of Innovation allowed entrepreneurs, innovators and companies that have started in the Student Incubator by University students to showcase and set up exhibits displaying the work and products being produced at the LBTC, as well as successful startups since its founding. This event also provides networking opportunities for various business leaders in the community.
“We educate [students],” D’Agostino said. “We want [students] to stay in the Baton Rouge area. We definitely want [students] to stay in Louisiana. So one of the things that we’re doing with the Student Incubator and with getting these companies growing to where they’re hiring people is that, hopefully, we can keep more of our LSU graduates here in the community because we have jobs for them.”
Awards were given to top performing companies and incubator graduates. Award recipients for 2016 included Incubator Park Company of the Year, awarded to Carver Scientific LLC, which involves the development and manufacturing of materials in energy storage, like batteries and capacitors; Student Incubator Company of the Year, awarded to Bayou Time Babysitting, a babysitting service developed by Niki Marie Hansen; Student Incubator Graduate Company of the Year, won by Daniel Outdoors, LLC, Edward Daniel, marketer of outdoor products; LBTC Tenant Company of the Year, won by The Healing Sole LLC, owned by an orthopedic surgeon named Dr. Meredith, a developer a treatment for a painful foot condition called “plantar faciitis.”
Additionally, former LBTC Board Chair and Jones Walker attorney Bob Tucker was awarded the rare LSU Innovation Park/LBTC Advocate of the Year. This award has only been granted 10 times since LBTC’s start in 1988. The award represents long-term special support given to the LBTC and its client companies by one of the board members.
LSU Innovation Park and the LBTC have been granted nearly every award available from its peers including Emerging Research Park of the Year and Incubator of the Year.