Six new buildings at 150,000 square feet each: 900,000 square feet Existing buildings to renovate: 300,000 square feet
BRIAN CHILSON
BRIAN CHILSON
Existing parking lots and decks: 7,000 spaces
DON’T SEE EYE TO EYE: Jay Chesshir votes for downtown; Dr. Mary Good prefers the Sears site.
Start-up incubators — where concepts are first proven — draw angel investment from risktakers who invest in exchange for ownership equity. Companies that specialize in biotechnology commercialization often invest as partners of universities, and wealth flows back to the universities; Ford gave the University of Florida, which gets a 20 percent return from
Gatorade sales every year, as an example. Venture capitalists who support information tech companies like nGage aren’t interested in sharing wealth. “I’m never going to commercialize somebody else,” Ford said. “I build my own intellectual property.” Ford, who will start with 35 employees but plans to eventually employ 100 in his digital
marketing firm, says urban areas make sense for business incubation and development. “I would love there to be a corridor,” he said, one that would “stimulate all type of neighborhood development and create an audience for people who have services. ... Why not take Main Street and one of these depressed areas and transform it?” CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 www.arktimes.com
OCTOBER 31, 2013
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