The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded $50,000 to the Prince William County Science Accelerator on Thursday.
The accelerator was chosen from a list of more than 800 applicants seeking the funding from the agency’s third annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. The funding will be used to continue research happening at the center, located near the Science and Technology Campus of George Mason University just outside Manassas.
Carl Knoblock, from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Richmond office, said he worked with many tech start-ups in Pennsylvania before coming to Virginia.
“When I came to Virginia from Pittsburgh for years ago, I thought it would be on the same playing field, and it wasn’t. I kept hearing about biotech business, but I didn’t see it,” explained Knoblock. “Now we can say we have the resources to the compete with North Carolina and Maryland.”
Overall, the region should position itself as a hub for science and IT businesses, he added.
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman, At-large Corey Stewart said the Science Accelerator is now, for the first time, full of start-up companies doing research at the center. He called it the perfect match between “government and the private sector working to create jobs.”
From Prince William County Economic Development:
Prince William County prides itself on being home to the first and only public-private, commercially available wet lab space in Northern Virginia, which is uniquely located within Innovation Park, anchored by the George Mason University Science & Technology Campus. The Prince William Science Accelerator was created to provide the catalyst for a growing life sciences industry cluster. The SBA grant will strengthen the Accelerator’s graduation program so each startup can successfully exit and function independently in the small business economy, which is achieved by addressing two key issues for scientists: resource constraints; and speed-to-market.
