Mayor Jeff Genung believes there's a potential to build upon Cochrane's tech industry by establishing an incubator for upstart companies in the transit hub/municipal services building being constructed on Railway St.

At yesterday's State of the Town address to the chamber of commerce, the mayor spoke enthusiastically about the potential to expand upon Cochrane's ambition to become a tech hub by opening the door to innovators at the site.

A master plan for the Tri-Site projects in the downtown core is scheduled to be reviewed by town council on June 24. The proposal to examine the cost of adding one or two storeys to the new building will be part of that presentation. 

Genung wants to see an analysis done on the costs compared to potential economic rewards. Research shows businesses that start in a community tend to stay there, he explained. Shining examples of that in Cochrane include cutting-edge tech companies 4iii Innovations and Garmin.

"My hope is that council will see the benefits of actually costing out the inclusion of a second or third floor," said Genung.

Genung has seen first-hand a highly-successful incubator created 10 years ago by the City of Waterloo, ON and Waterloo University. He says it has become the most successful tech incubator in Canada, if not North America.

"They've transformed a 50-year old downtown Waterloo building from an industry that has all moved away to a vibrant economy that they are driving themselves. I feel Cochrane has the same opportunity to do this."

"New high-end apartments are being built around this old warehouse district that is now a really cool to place to be."

Sixty startup tech companies are located in that old tannery building. He says 65 per cent of the companies started there succeed, well above the norm of 10 per cent.

Waterloo essentially subsidizes the startup companies by providing free rent for two years, access to wi-fi, washrooms and space, says Genung. Applications are reviewed by a local board.

Genung remains conscious of cost but believes the investment would be insignificant compared to the reward of new businesses and more high-paying local jobs.

"We have over 500 high-paying tech jobs in a community of 30,000 people already. When I said that to those people in Waterloo they were astounded. That's a high number of tech jobs for a community of our size. We already have it going on here."

Mayor Jeff Genung gave a 20-plus minute State of the Town address to the chamber of commerce yesterday that touched upon taxes, development, road infrastructure and aspirations of the town.