New Economy Strategies has prepared a Creative Business Accelerator Strategy for the Detroit Renaissance, and it is now available to download and view. The document examines the new role of business accelerators, as well as several case studies of locations where these accelerators have been most effective.

Concerning the new role of business accelerators, the NES explains that “’virtual incubators’ have emphasized social networking, technical consulting, and partner reliance over attempting to replicate all required services on-site in a single office.”

In exploring this, there are many questions that are raised for most business incubators, such as: What sustainable funding will be available to support our business accelerator? or How do we plan to grow our service level? These questions must be address in order to determine the success of any proposed incubator.

The case studies presented were chosen on a number of factors, including key initiatives and target industries. Some notable locations include Winston-Salem, North Carolina, whose Center for Design Innovation “focuses on design as an intersection point for a variety of industries including film, media arts, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.” This sort of initiative compliments Detroit’s own creative business accelerator.

London’s Creative Business Accelerator also supports creative businesses in the area and serves as an accurate example of an area with similar goals to those of Detroit. These and other case studies provide a look into the future of Southeast Michigan and what the development of a Creative Business Accelerator can be capable of. You can download and read the PDF of the full report here.