Getting started can be the hardest part of a journey, and when it comes to putting an idea in motion, those first steps can be crucial in determining success or failure.

That's why Cal Poly Pomona's newly completed Center for Training, Technology & Incubation (CTTI)—part of the College of the Extended University—is viewed as an important resource that offers small businesses and entrepreneurs critical guidance through the turbulent waters of project start-up.

CTTI merges the training and education initiatives of CEU with a pair of business incubators: the NASA Commercialization Center and the Pomona Technology Center. The 48,000-square-foot complex was built with a combination of public and private funding sources, including NASA, the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the State of California Trade and Commerce Agency. Located off Temple Avenue just east of the university's south campus entrance, it serves as anchor to the planned 65-acre Innovation Village research park.

Van Garner and Julie Holland agree that the newly completed Center for Training, Technology & Incubation will help make Cal Poly Pomona accessible to the business community.

Although it may appear to stand apart from the main portion of campus, CTTI promotes integration between the university and surrounding area.

"What CTTI does, essentially, is make Cal Poly Pomona accessible to the community, in particular the entrepreneurial small business community," says Julie Holland, director of the NASA Commercialization Center. "It provides a wealth of resources at the site as well as a way to find other resources. In a very real sense, we're a bit of a conduit."

CTTI offers university students and faculty a place to expand the learning experience, and the incubators provide a starting point for individuals with entrepreneurial visions.

"What I tell people is this supports the general notion of this campus. We're creating hands-on learning here," says CEU dean Van Gamer. "With the incubators, we have multiple charges: commercialize technology, support business and bring living-wage jobs into the workplace. The reason we do this is because we are a changing university."

For the business that take part, a wide variety of assistance is available. Cal Poly Pomona offers vast resources just waiting to be utilized. The incubators are intended to help access what is needed when it is needed.

"While we don't have all the resources in one place, we certainly know where they are," says Holland. "One of the things we're doing right now is taking a detailed inventory of available resources and putting together programs that will involve sutdents and faculty members.

A prime example involves website development, a crucial factor in the current business climate for new companies in terms of marketing and advertising. Cal Poly Pomona has teh curriculum in place, so CTTI's business incubators can offer students an opportunity to earn extra income and obtain real world experience while simultaneously providing assistance to small businesses seeking to conserve on start-up costs.

>While an official grand opening ceremony should come during the first quarter of 2002, operations are already underway at CTTI. With three clients in place, expectations are for office space to be fully leased within 18-24 months. And because of the tremendous increase in agricultural and biotech research faculty on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, it's anticipated that the next phase of building will include wet lab space.

What most excites me about CTTI is that, for the first time, we can broaden our base beyond those companies interested in NASA technology," says Holland. "We're really looking to work with faculty on campus who are researchers. It doesn't replace the NASA Commercialization Center. It just augments it."

For more information on the Center for Training, Technology & Incubation, call (909)869-4477.