EAGLE MOUNTAIN -- Pods and incubations aren't normally associated with business, unless you're a farmer. But for four business owners, that is the description of their new workplace.

The grand opening for Eagle Mountain's Business Incubator, a program designed to give new businesses a boost and help the economy, held its grand opening on June 8 at the Direct Communications building.

The plan is simple: take a several businesses that meet the criteria, place them in a shared business space owned by the city and watch them grow out of your incubator pod and into a full-fledged, self-sustaining business. The space is available for three years at no cost for the first and minimally increased rent the second and third years, allowing them to do so without the burden of expensive overhead.

The idea of incubation is somewhat new, but still somewhat obscure. Ifo Pili, assistant city administrator and economic director of Eagle Mountain spearheaded the project and with support from other local businesses, managed to complete it without using taxpayer money. The four inaugural businesses into the project include:

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Eagle Mountain's Business Incubator

Interested in incubating your own business?

• Hoffman Consulting Group, a commercial loans brokerage
• The Life Enhancement Center, a treatment center
• Impact Elevated, a direct mailer business
• and SymBiotechs, a prosthetics company specializing in high-activity prosthetic knees.

At the business incubator grand opening, Derek Miller, chief of staff to Governor Gary Herbert spoke about how the program falls within the four cornerstones of economic development the governor has laid out, as well as the innovation required to achieve Utah's economic goals.

"Utah is doing great things, but it's happening because of communities like Eagle Mountain, and it's happening in communities because of hard- working individuals," Miller said.

The businesses will move into the Direct Communications building at 726 E. Campus Drive.

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