James Robbins: Startup Specialist
Friday, December 19, 2008
By Lisa Sibley, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
James Robbins knows a thing or two about hatching businesses. In the past 15 years, Robbins has helped start 50 incubators, including the nation’s first environmental incubator, called the Environmental Business Cluster. As the nonprofit organization’s executive director, he helps clean technology companies get their designs ready for market. Located in downtown San Jose, the center has commercialization contracts with the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Q: Why was the EBC created, and what does it do?
A: “I felt like there were a lot of technologies for environmental problems, but they weren’t reaching the marketplace where people could buy them,” Robbins said. So he started the EBC in 1994 as part of a Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network project to help emerging clean-energy and environmental-technology companies reach those markets. It offers business assistance programs to resident and nonresident companies and aids in the formation of technology partnerships and industry networks. During its history, it has helped more than 120 businesses commercialize and market their products and services. “It’s a consulting model,” he said. “We figure out what each company is good at and not good at and provide them with a network of advisers, mentors and service providers.”
Q: What kind of companies are at the EBC, and what are they working on?
A: The companies are focused on everything from clean transportation to solar and nanosolar power systems. Robbins said there has been a heightened demand for products related to saving energy. The EBC assists anywhere from 25 to 30 startups at any given time, with companies typically receiving help for 12 to 18 months. The EBC also has about 140 alumni companies. There is currently no waiting list to get in to the center, but Robbins said it is full.
Q: What is the EBC’s relationship with the city of San Jose?
A: The city of San Jose is on course with its Green Vision initiative to be a leader in meeting environmental challenges. The EBC is partnering with city officials to accomplish the 15-year goal. “We work with the mayor’s office and the (San Jose) Redevelopment Agency to get companies that graduate to build companies here in San Jose,” said Robbins, adding that this in turn brings jobs to the city. The city is also a financial sponsor of the EBC, paying for its rent in the building on North First Street. Winners of the 2008 California Clean Tech Open business plan competition were recently awarded one year’s free rent at the EBC. Robbins said nine companies have already signed up to work with them.
Q: How is the EBC supported in terms of funding?
A: In addition to city support, the EBC is also backed by private corporate sponsorships as well as program grants from foundations and government agencies. The EBC received the National Business Incubation Association’s 2008 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year award at the association’s 22nd International Conference on Business Incubation in San Antonio. The award is the association’s most prestigious honor.
Q: What’s your vision for the future of the EBC?
A: In the short term, Robbins said the facility is seeking $1.5 million for the Electronic Transportation Development Center, a resident at the EBC. The transportation center’s first product is a demonstration hybrid bus powered by electric as well as renewable clean energy that showcases advanced transportation security technologies. The EBC and the city of San Jose are also seeking a facility for the center. The goal is to establish the first U.S. facility focused on the design and development of alternative fuels and hybrid commercial vehicles that meet homeland security needs. In the long term, Robbins said the EBC wants to attract clean tech companies to San Jose and help them understand why this is a great place to be in the industry. Robbins said that’s going to be an even greater challenge in the next year, when it will be harder for these companies to access funding.
Q: What is one thing you want people to know about the EBC?
A: In 2009, the EBC will offer its members and nonmembers a series of seminars on how to finance an environmental business.
Lisa Sibley can be reached at 408.299.1841 or sibley@bizjournals.com.
All contents of this article ® American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.
|
