Creative sparks.

• Author: Mildenberg, David

Centers of innovation come in all sizes. Here's a sampling of efforts to spur growth and assist North Carolina's inventors and dreamers.

Veteran economic developer Tom White first heard the term "business incubator" in the late 1980s after former Durham Mayor Wib Gulley raved about visiting a venture with that moniker in Minneapolis, sponsored by Control Data Corp. "He believed it could make a big difference in our state," says White, who heads the Economic Development Partnership at N.C. State University.

North Carolina now sports dozens of projects that assist entrepreneurs, each with different funding and missions. State and local governments and universities are collectively investing millions of dollars to prop up ventures that promote new businesses, often partnering with the private sector. In some cases, investors are creating entities devoid of public funds.

We picked 10 ventures across North Carolina to show the varying models and missions. The basic concept is simple: Enable people to turn their dreams and ideas into businesses that can make money or serve the public good--or both. The desired results are jobs and, often, increased real-estate values.

"Incubators matter because it's a critical mass of volume that makes really cool, spontaneous things happen," says Dan Roselli, co-founder of Charlotte's Packard Place co-working center (now HQ Charlotte) that has hosted more than 100 startups. "When you put 200 or more cool people in the same area, talking about their ideas and projects, things happen that wouldn't happen otherwise."

North Carolina's innovation support groups have blossomed over the last 10 years, which is a "direct reflection of our growing startup ecosystem," says Ashley Hudson, manager of the N.C. State Technology Incubator in Raleigh. Low rents and contact with experienced businesspeople and fellow entrepreneurs "can be crucial for success during the early and most high-risk years."

Sadly, new business starts remain depressed. The number of net new businesses in the U.S. grew by 166,500 in 2010-14, a rate that is less than half the pace of economic recoveries in 1992-96 and 2002-06, according to the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington D.C., research firm. North Carolina ranked 20th in net new establishments in 2010-14, a weak performance for the ninth-most populous state. Still, the state ranked seventh nationally in total job gains.

Roselli predicts business startups will accelerate in North Carolina as for-profit groups such as Durham's American Underground and the HQ network based in Raleigh expand. "Incubators have better potential when they are led by private industry. The public sector has a role to play, but entrepreneurs can react much faster than universities or governments."

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HQ Community

RALEIGH | GREENSBORO | CHARLOTTE

FOUNDED: 2012

KEY INVESTORS: Founders Jason Widen, Christopher Gergen, Jesse Lipson and Brooks Bell

SIZE: 10,000 square feet in Raleigh, 11,000 square feet in Greensboro and 25,000 square feet in Charlotte

MISSION: To cultivate inclusive communities of entrepreneurs who create positive economic and social change

WEBSITE: hqraleigh.com

HQ Community was founded in 2012 with the goal of creating a community of like-minded...