Currently housed in leased facilities at 1334 Sumter St. and 1233 Washington St., the Technology Incubator will begin moving in November to the City of Columbia’s soon-to-be vacated offices at 1225 Laurel St. The City of Columbia is migrating its administrative functions to the new Washington Square at Washington and Main streets. USC will lease the Laurel Street building for $1 per year for five years with a two-year option.

“Through word of mouth and a little media attention, the incubator has generated about 300 jobs,” said Joel Stevenson, director of the Technology Incubator. “With the spacious facility on Laurel Street, we’re planning to launch a media campaign and start actively recruiting technology entrepreneurs who want to work with USC and our partner, Midlands Technical College. We’re going to have the space and the set-up that we’ve wanted for a long time.”

The Technology Incubator’s 22 current companies occupy about 25,000 square feet now, but the largest company, BioWatch, will graduate from the incubator in November. The incubator will move into the basement and first floor of 1225 Laurel Street initially; by next summer, the remaining three floors of the building will be vacated by the city and available for the incubator to lease to start-up companies.

“The Laurel Street building is in very good shape with Internet wiring and telecommunications,” Stevenson said. “We’re going to do some painting and sprucing up, then put up some signage to let everyone know we’re there.”

The long-term goal for the Technology Incubator is to establish permanent facilities on USC’s future research campus where it is expected that private companies will work closely with University scientists. To join USC’s Technology Incubator, start-up companies must demonstrate a need to work with students and faculty from USC and Midlands Technical College.

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