High-tech business incubator proposed in Kenosha County

The Kenosha County community of Pleasant Prairie, home to LakeView Corporate Park and other business parks, hopes to develop an incubator for technology-oriented business start-ups.

The 2009-'11 proposed state budget, which is pending in the Legislature, includes a $700,000 grant for what has been dubbed the Pleasant Prairie Technology Incubator Center. The state Department of Commerce grant would be provided only if the center obtains matching funds of $700,000 from other sources.

Those other funds could come from the private sector, a federal grant, or a tax incremental financing district, in which Pleasant Prairie would provide money to be repaid through the incubator's property taxes. That's according to Todd Battle, president of the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, which is leading the effort to develop the incubator.

An incubator focused on biomedical sciences and medical technology is consistent with a newly developed economic development strategy for the Kenosha area, Battle said.

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