Mr. Coticchia said he expects the local facility to have its own personality. DotDorm is looking at several unidentified buildings that are under construction close to the Oakland campus. No real estate broker has been retained as yet. An Oakland site puts dotDorm close to CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, but other Western Pennsylvania institutions of higher learning will be involved as well. Penn's dotDorm works with 13 colleges in Eastern Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley, Mr. Coticchia said.
Physical spaces are a nicety.
Still, he acknowledged, having space helps on many levels. Most of the entrepreneurs he spoke with had university ties. Then there's the matter of investors. Arthur Andersen, for example, is a sponsor of the Penn dotDorm, but hasn't signed on here. Mr. Coticchia approached Reed Smith last spring, because he had built up relationships with several attorneys there.