We grow up hearing about inventors like Thomas Alva Edison, Henry Ford and Samuel Morse, giants who created products that changed the world. Seemingly, they did it alone.The good news for Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs: They have help from a network of business incubators that offer guidance, expertise, business services and vastly reduced costs on office, lab or manufacturing space to startups. The Northeast Ohio Incubator Collaborative provides coordinated services to entrepreneurs seeking to start technology-oriented businesses in the 21 counties of Northeast Ohio. Five incubators that receive funds from the state’s Thomas Edison Program. Each also offers its own brand of services. MAGNET, located in downtown Cleveland, focuses on manufacturing and technology companies and entrepreneurs. The Youngstown Business Incubator is known for working with scalable information technology-based businesses. GLIDE, in Lorain County, focuses on high-growth businesses, regardless of industry. Braintree Business Development Center concentrates on advanced manufacturing, IT, biosciences, international and agribusiness. And the Akron Global Business Accelerator works with renewable energy, materials technology and information technology.To maximize its impact, NEOinc harnesses the successful work of the individual incubators and weaves it into a web that extends throughout the region. “The state of Ohio wanted to put more money into increasing the impact of programs that are of an entrepreneurially significant nature,” says Wayne Zeman, chairman of NEOinc and vice president of venture development of MAGNET Innovation Center. NEOinc acts as an entry point to Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial support network of universities, chambers of commerce, government agencies, angel investors, venture capitalists and “entrepreneurially friendly” attorneys, accountants and other professional services.And there’s power in the network. Consider the Akron Global Business Accelerator, which recently celebrated its 26th birthday and currently works with 49 companies. “Between myself and Wayne, we have about 40 years of incubation experience,” says Mike LeHere, CEO of the Akron Global Business Accelerator. “We are familiar with best practices. We also recognize that knowledge is best when it’s shared.”The accelerator offers unique programs with unique capabilities, but so do the other incubators in the group. “That just makes each of us stronger when we work together,” says LeHere. By nature, incubators have small staffs to keep costs low. So the technology-focused clients of NEOinc have access to all programs, services, expertise and facilities of all the other NEOinc incubators. “What one is lacking, in terms of availability or people or specialty or expertise, the other has available,” says Bob Cohen, CEO and director of business assistance at Braintree Development Center. “There’s a lot of movement, advice-giving and counseling among those involved with these organizations.” At least two of Braintree’s clients have gone to Youngstown for IT assistance; one has worked with MAGNET to gain more insights into the food industry. Youngstown has become the go-to incubator for IT services. “Information technology is enabling. It touches all industries,” says Julie Michael Smith, chief development officer for the Youngstown Business Incubator. “It provides an endless stream of opportunities and new ideas for us to make things smarter, better and faster.” Smith shares the knowledge with the others. “There have been times when I’ve gone to directors and, because of working as part of a collaborative, have had access to management, special technologies and business assistance,” says Akron’s LeHere. “As I stand alone, I wouldn’t have that opportunity. I’m more effective because of being a member of NEOinc.”Growth Inc.