On the second floor of a low-slung office building west of downtown Chicago, piles of boxes await unpacking as the final touches, such as the meeting room’s interactive SMART Board conferencing screen, are installed. In laboratories down the hall, fume hoods have been hung, benches wiped clean, and the autoclave put in place, ready for the building’s first tenants to begin their research. EnterpriseWorks Chicago is the newest of the University of Illinois’s business incubators, which offer cheap rent to entrepreneurs in the early stages of commercialization. At the new facility, enterprising life scientists can rent a desk in a shared office for $100 a month, and an additional $600 secures a spot in the wet lab. All members get access to the university’s library, facilities, and expertise. Read more
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