University City Science Center incubation program receives NBIA Soft Landings international incubator designation [VIDEO]

The the National Business Incubation Association awarded its Soft Landings international incubator designation to the University City Science Center‘s new bullpen incubation program  last week for successful acceleration of life sciences and technology businesses in Philadelphia, as Technically Philly partner Philadelphia Neighborhoods reported.

The Science Center shares the NBIA designation with only 22 other incubators across the globe.

The Science Center set itself apart with a variety of services and facilities that are practically useful to foreign startups, including “translation services, technological resources and market capital research to many non-domestic firms. The Science Center also offers wet labs, state of the art conference rooms and access to business support programs,” said Christopher Laing, the University City Science Center’s vice president of science and technology.

Video from Philadelphia Neighborhoods.

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Although it’s an attractive place for international startups to get off the ground, the Science Center’s primary incubation goals are especially and overtly local. From the Philadelphia Neighborhoods report:

The basis for the incubation program’s efforts lie in the hope that once its participating companies get a foothold on the local markets, they will want to stay in the Philadelphia region long term. The incubation program’s ultimate goal is to help the local economy. “The big thing that we’re interested in is job creation. We measure a lot of our activities ultimately on the basis of ‘are we sustaining and creating jobs in the region,'” Laing explained. …[T]he program claims to have created more than 15,000 jobs and contributed more than $9 billion to Philadelphia’s regional economy. The program has assisted more than 20 companies from 10 different countries, and all have stayed in the region to develop and grow their operations.

To read the full article from Philadelphia Neighborhood click here.