Creative industry incubators provide inexpensive space, technical support, and business development services to emerging artists, arts groups, and arts-related businesses. Incubators help to grow and stabilize young creative ventures. They graduate successful artists and businesses back into the community, creating jobs, enhancing the local economy, and helping to build a critical mass for creative culture in the surrounding area. Creative industry incubators often also provide direct economic benefits to their neighborhoods by including visual and performing arts venues which draw patrons to events and who can spill over into other local businesses.

Calhoun County was fortunate to already have had two creative industry incubators in place, the Art Center of Battle Creek, and ETC. Art Studio, also in Battle Creek. A third incubator was launched in April 2006 (Greenstreet Arts) in Marshall. Each incubator is unique in the population it serves, the services it offers, in its artistic focus, and in the products it generates.

Related Documents
Calhoun County Incubator Plan