Hatching Innovation, Growing Local Companies

Petaluma's claim to fame was incubators that increased the speed with which hens laid eggs. More than a 100 years later, some residents are working to make the city an incubator of another kind—one that helps hatch high-tech companies.

Last month the city took an important step in attaining this goal, when it sent a letter asking to join the North Bay iHub, coordinated by the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster in Rohnert Park. 

The group helps entrepreneurs bring their ideas to fruition by providing mentoring, office space, networking and, most importantly, a connection to venture capital through an innovation, or iHub. And being a part of it is long overdue, say many.

“Petaluma didn’t sign up for the iHub when it first started,” said Jason Davies, chair of the Technology and Telecommunications Advisory Committee and Vice President of Business Development at BIAS, Inc., an audio software company based in Petaluma. “If we had been bold enough, we could have said ‘Let’s do this in Petaluma.’ Though perhaps late to the party, better late than never.”

Last year, six iHubs were created by the state to serve as a platform for innovation in all sectors by working with existing research parks, universities and laboratories to start new companies. That number has since grown to 12 and includes the North Bay iHub, to which Novato, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park already belong.

According to Sonoma County Economic Development Board’s newest report released last week, technology is a leading growth industry in the county. But for years, Petaluma's high-tech advocates have been frustrated that the city did not seem particularly interested in focusing on this area, instead marketing itself as an antiques and wine destination more than the Silicon Valley of the north.

However, a part of the economic development plan, approved last November, specifically mentions re-orienting Petaluma toward the high-tech sector, which pays high salaries and is considered “green” because it doesn’t emit any pollution.

“We could help companies that are here stay in Petaluma,” Davies said. “Where it translates into jobs is helping new companies expand and bring their ideas into product development.”

Bruce Blinn, another member of the technology committee and a former Wall Street analyst and manager of a venture capital fund, has been an ardent advocate of strengthening the link between City Hall and tech-preneurs.

For one, he has urged city leaders to join the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster for more than a year as well as pushed to make the city’s homepage look more “modern” and easier to navigate.

Blinn and Davies plan to meet with people who want to start high-tech companies or have already done so, to see if any have potential to qualify for venture capital funding through the cluster. They don't want anyone leaving Petaluma to head to Rohnert Park, but they do want to nurture talent when they see it.

“One of our goals is to introduce people to each and generate some cross company business,” Blinn said. “A big part of it is just being aware of each other.”

The city will officially become a member of the North Bay iHub next month, said Michael Newell, director of the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster.