The Columbian Spotlights the Startup Incubator at the Vancouver Innovation Center

On September 22, 2026, The Columbian published a profile of North Bank Innovations, the startup incubator based at the Vancouver Innovation Center (the VIC) in east Vancouver, Washington. New Blueprint Partners owns the VIC and welcomed the incubator to the campus a year ago. The story, by reporter Sarah Wolf, looks at what North Bank does for founders and why it chose the VIC. Read the full story at The Columbian.

Key facts

• Who: North Bank Innovations, a Southwest Washington startup organization founded by Dave Barcos in 2017.
• What: Coworking, events and one-on-one guidance for founders at any stage, from engineers learning to take a product to market to product people looking for a technical partner.
• Where: The Vancouver Innovation Center, 18110 SE 34th St., Suite 120, Vancouver, WA 98683.
• The campus: A former Hewlett-Packard campus of 179 acres with about 700,000 square feet of office, flex and manufacturing space, acquired by New Blueprint Partners and Rabina in October 2020.
• Next: The Vancouver Tech Crawl, October 21, 2026, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. in downtown Vancouver, with a reception from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

What Marc Esrig told The Columbian

Marc Esrig, principal and co-founder of New Blueprint Partners, spoke with the paper about why the VIC made room for North Bank:

"Southwest Washington has never had a shortage of talent. What it's lacked is a place where a founder can get honest advice and sit next to people solving the same problems."

North Bank built that place at the VIC, he said, "and we're glad to support it." He also made the case that backing the incubator is an investment in Vancouver and Clark County, because companies that find their footing here tend to stay.

Why an incubator belongs on an industrial campus

Most incubators sit in downtown office space. A startup that builds hardware eventually needs more than a desk: a lab, a small production line, a loading dock. The VIC has space at each of those sizes on one campus, from a coworking desk in North Bank's suite to office, flex and light industrial space in the same buildings. A company can move up without moving away.

That fits the long-term plan for the VIC. New Blueprint Partners and Rabina are reshaping the former HP campus into a 20-minute neighborhood where people can live, work and play. At full buildout the plan anticipates 5,000 to 6,000 commercial jobs and upwards of 1,200 new homes, with 14.6 acres of existing forest preserved. Established manufacturers are already there, including YST Semiconductor, which leased 150,000 square feet for advanced manufacturing. An incubator adds the earliest stage of that pipeline.

How the incubator came to the VIC

According to The Columbian, North Bank's team heard from local founders and investors that the region needed an incubator, and those conversations led to a meeting with New Blueprint Partners. The incubator opened on campus in 2025. The paper reports that the community has grown to thousands of followers since, and that North Bank has helped several companies move closer to launching their products.

The story also quotes Jordan Boldt, president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, on why keeping homegrown companies in the region matters.

For founders, tenants and partners

• Founders: Visit North Bank Innovations for coworking, programs and events, and register for the Vancouver Tech Crawl on October 21.
• Companies looking for space: See available office, flex and industrial space at thevicwa.com, or read more about the VIC.
• Everyone else: Contact New Blueprint Partners.

Source: Sarah Wolf, "Supporting tech startups: North Bank Innovations at Vancouver Innovation Center strives to provide new businesses the foundation they need," The Columbian, September 22, 2026.