One million dollars in state funding for the project was announced on Monday but it is more than two years since the concept was first hatched.

The SMART Region Incubator will be in a refurbished floor of UNE’s business, economics and law precinct, with work expected to being immediately.

Head of UNE’s business school Alison Sheridan said the incubator would provide a more interactive space for entrepreneurs to develop and test their ideas.  

“The number of people making contact with the business school and with the SMART Farm to say ‘this is my idea, where can we go with this’ is fantastic,” she said.

Much of the incubator’s purpose will be to helping UNE students and researchers explore avenues for commercialising their ideas.

“We need to see ideas come to fruition in a really short time,” professor Sheridan said.

“And that’s the beauty of the incubator.

“You have the space to really concentrate on ‘what do I need to do about getting my business registered; what’s the market that I’m looking at; how do I actually ensure I have got the right product or service; and where's the funding coming from’. That’s what we’ll be facilitating.”

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall announced the funding and said the $1 million was from the government’s Boost program and had been provided to help UNE develop a space where businesses and researchers could collaborate on new ideas.

“We want to make it easier for businesses and researchers in the New England region to share ideas at a national and international level,” he said.

“UNE has the knowledge and data to support this aim, and this project will provide it with the infrastructure.” 

Professor Sheriden agreed. “There are enormous expertise both from the law and business schools that can be drawn on,” she said.

The development is expected to be complete before the end of the year.