Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 9, 1995 TAG: 9505090091
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY D. DAVIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The initiative, created by the General Assembly to distribute $1.2 million to expand opportunities in Virginia for self-employed individuals, on Monday made its first grant of $200,000 to a Roanoke incubator project promoted by business and government leaders including the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.
A business incubator is a commercial building in which new companies collaborate on common problems and receive management advice and discounts on rent and support services.
"There's an entrepreneurial spirit" in a business incubator, said Hope Player, an accountant and member of a group that has spearheaded the effort for about seven years. "There's a spark of electricity, you've got someone you can go to. That's the spark that makes these things work."
John Stroud, president of the chamber, said, "We want to create a climate and a facility for small businesses to prosper."
Initial start-up costs were projected at up to $1.5 million, but because the organizers are going to lease instead of build a facility, those numbers have gone down.
"We're not going to have the funding to build," said Phil Sparks, Roanoke's acting director of economic development.
The start-up costs for the Roanoke facility are now figured at about $450,000, Player said. The chamber is waiting for additional funding from two other sources: the Community Development Block Grant Fund, and the Center for Innovative Technology.
Proponents still would need other donations from the private sector for operating capital, Player said.
"All of those pieces have to fall into place by July 1," Player said. If they don't, the project will fail.
About 50 prospects have contacted the chamber, Player said, showing interest in leasing out space at the new facility.
If the business incubator fares as well as facilities in Lynchburg and Charlotte, N.C., Player anticipates the creation of 150 jobs, and sales of about $15 million, she said.
by CNB