Delaware County’s economic development activities include an effort to foster local success of small technology firms.

The county has a long-term plan to develop a business “incubator,” a facility designed to help small fledgling businesses make the transition from an in-home office to a more expensive lease in a commercial building.

Central Ohio has a number of such incubators, including one in Powell that holds four businesses and one in Dublin that holds 60, county officials said.

County economic development director Gus Comstock said preliminary steps leading to the incubator include working with TechColumbus, a nonprofit organization that promotes tech companies in 15 central Ohio counties.

“TechColumbus will give us more credibility” with potential incubator tenants, Comstock said. “Not only do they provide credibility, but they also provide resources that are invaluable to start-up companies.”

Comstock said the county is in the process of identifying small tech businesses and start-ups currently operating out of residential properties, with the ultimate goal of enticing them to move into the incubator.

Examples of potential businesses include those working with software, green technology and medical technology.

So far, county officials have not determined where the incubator would be or when it will open, but it’s likely an existing facility would be chosen. One challenge, Comstock said, is persuading a landlord of the program’s merits.

“The argument you might hear from real estate owners who lease office space is that we’re creating an unfair advantage for businesses who should have to pay the going rate,” Comstock said.

“But you have to remember that we’re talking about start-ups, businesses that could just as easily go broke after three months as make it big. An incubator allows the businesses to mature so when they’re ready to take that next step out of the incubator they can sign a one-, two- or three-year lease and be much less of a risk.”

County commissioners recently pledged a $50,000 contribution to Tech Columbus, which has provided entrepreneurs with nearly $1.8 million in recent years, leading to revenue exceeding $102 million.

TechColumbus has helped the county create more than 100 jobs “with an average salary of $73,545, Comstock said.

Through the nonprofit’s Entrepreneurial Signature Program, every dollar secured by TechColumbus is matched by the Ohio Department of Development’s Third Frontier Commission.

“Franklin and Delaware are the two largest counties in our 15-county central Ohio region,” said Will Indest, vice president of venture development for TechColumbus. “I think in the next five years we’ll see 200 new companies through the program.”

Indest pointed to Znode, a “multi-store ecommerce” business in the Polaris area, as a Delaware County success story.

“We invested $500,000 directly into Znode,” he said. “And not only has the company thrived but it was purchased by the British company Yell to serve as its beachhead here in the U.S.”

Delaware County expects TechColumbus to:

• Provide services to coach and mentor technology companies and help start-ups create jobs, sell their products and services, and attract investment funding.

• Provide TechGenesis grants to very early-stage business ideas.

• Hire domain and commercialization experts as consultants to help new companies define their markets, complete their products, complete regulatory requirements and, eventually, go to market.

“The important thing to remember is that tech jobs are high-paying jobs,” Indest said.

“The national average tech job pays $65,000. And Delaware County has the demographics and resources to really hit the ball out of the park with technology.”