Business incubation expert teaches best practices in Asia

When he oversaw Indiana University’s Advanced Research and Technology Corp., the school’s business incubation
and technology transfer program, Mark Long helped dozens of local startups get off the ground. Now he’s the manager
of his own business incubation consultancy, Long Performance Advisors. And some of his clientele hail from the other side
of the planet.

Long recently returned from a trip to Asia. While in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he worked on a training
program for 26 business incubator professionals associated with the Malaysian Biotech Corp. Long then offered his expertise
to 115 incubator managers in Dalian, China.

The Athens, Ohio-based National Business Incubation Association partnered
with Long for his trip. The United States and Europe currently boast more than 1,000 business incubators. But Asian nations
are taking serious steps in support of entrepreneurship, according to Long and NBIA. As of September, China, Malaysia, Korea,
Japan and Singapore had each established 300 to 400 business incubators.

And Asian incubators are clearly willing
to learn best practices from their competitors in Western nations.

“The training was well-received and well-executed,”
wrote Hongbo Jiang, secretary general of the Dalian Business Incubation Association. “Mark’s knowledge was a great
asset to the Chinese incubation community and we look forward to having him back.”