New Albany officials hope to make the village an innovation center for development with a new initiative that includes an expanded incubator program for small businesses.

The village recently launched Innovate New Albany - which will use the village's assets and help connect entrepreneurs with mentors, capital and other necessary resources - to build on the spirit of innovation that already exists locally, said community development director Jennifer Chrysler.

For example, Chrysler said, the New Albany-Plain Local School District hosts a Cisco computer academy, through which its students can become certified to work with computers and networks. Also, several entrepreneurs have used TechColumbus' TechStart program to take their ideas and build them into businesses.

"We want to grow innovation at all these different levels," she said.

The village's new business incubator site is at 8000 Walton Parkway, Chrysler said, and includes 7,900 square feet provided by the New Albany Co., the area's largest developer. The Innovate New Albany Center - known as INC@8000 - is available as office space for entrepreneurs wanting to develop business ideas or start a new company.

Chrysler said 13 of the 15 available office suites already are occupied by companies like Buckeye Interactive, which is owned by Brad Griffith and specializes in interactive marketing and website development. Griffith founded his business in the former incubator site at 6530 W. Campus Oval and said working in New Albany has been a positive experience.

"They have the infrastructure to support small businesses," Griffith said. "The village has helped to promote us and connected us to other small businesses. There are some very successful small businesses in New Albany."

Chrysler said the businesses and start-up companies are supported by infrastructure and connectivity to the fiber-optics network provided by Bluemile. They have office space at INC@8000 guaranteed through a three-year agreement with the New Albany Co. and have access to many resources that can help them, including the TechStart program, which offers companies mentoring and consulting services as well as office, meeting and lab facilities.

The village has hired consultant Tom Guy, who will work with the 13 new businesses at INC@8000 as a liaison to connect the entrepreneurs with investors and other resources.

"There are a lot of investors and venture capital people here in New Albany and I'm making the connections between potential funding and investors and the entrepreneurs with all the creative ideas," Guy said.

The Innovate New Albany initiative also includes the New Albany Innovation Exchange, a weekly blog that will provide updates on new businesses and available resources. Buckeye Interactive is hosting the blog at www.innovatenewalbany.org. The site also includes information on upcoming workshops held by TechColumbus, TechStart and the Ohio Small Business Development Center, all of which are free and open to anyone.

A leadership roundtable, which consists of chief information officers and other corporate-level executives from successful, established local companies, also has been developed. It will be a networking resource and help with mentoring, Chrysler said.

"This is a comprehensive, community-wide approach to economic development," Chrysler said. "We want to cultivate that type of environment that is rich with innovation."