The role of business incubators in selected California community colleges

Purpose. This case study determined the issues that selected community colleges in Southern California addressed for the establishment of a small business incubator within the community college organizational structure.;Methodology. This was a qualitative descriptive case study of two selected community college incubators in Southern California. The research described the decision-making actions taken by the selected community colleges pertaining to their incubator operations, the placement of the business incubator within the larger college framework, and management. The study ascertained the allocation and utilization of resources by the incubators to support business client firms and opportunities for student interns.;Findings and conclusions. Data were obtained from one-on-one interviews conducted by the researcher. The key findings from the analysis of data showed that the two incubators had more differences than similarities. These differences resulted from the different decisions, different resource base and utilization, and the different strategies used for the implementation and operation of the two incubators at the selected community colleges.;Data evaluation showed a need for incubator managers and administrators to spend more time to explain the importance of resource requirements to the prospective client firms, and to provide more opportunities for client firms to get access to much-needed monetary resources. Also, the incubator client firms value sharing their successes and challenges with other firms at the incubator, and opportunities for networking, collaboration, and business partnerships. In addition, an effective placement of the business incubator in the community college organizational structure and educational program would be mutually beneficial for incubator business firms and the college students.;Recommendations for future research. An important area for future research would be to compare incubators at community colleges with incubators at universities and institutions of higher learning for sharing areas of improvement. Another research area would be to determine sources of revenue and other resources from all the incubator stakeholders, including the community. An important area for research would be to design effective student internship programs that would be mutually beneficial for incubator business firms and the college students. A significant area for research would be to determine if student interns who worked with incubator client firms later became entrepreneurs and joined similar incubators.