ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996                 TAG: 9605080019
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER 

WHERE ARE THE CHICKENS? EGGLESS, BABELESS `INCUBATOR' MIGHT CHANGE ITS NAME

Backers of a proposed Roanoke business incubator have an identity problem. The proposed facility would be a place where entrepreneurs and small firms are encouraged to work and thrive.

Problem is, when manager Lisa Ison talks about the incubator concept to community groups, "a lot of people think of chickens.

"I say, 'How many people know what an incubator is?' Everyone connects that with a hatchery - or premature babies," Ison said.

Thus, the Roanoke Regional Business Incubator is likely to have a new name when it opens, sometime before July1.

The opening has been pushed back from May 15, Ison said, to give organizers time to raise more money.

The incubator will be in an existing building near downtown, but its backers won't divulge the location. The purchase hinges on a nonprofit corporation affiliated with the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce securing a $250,000 loan, Ison said. Local and state agencies already have given $460,000 for start-up costs.

A business incubator is a building in which new or start-up businesses rent space in which to operate. Included in the rental fee will be the services of a receptionist, janitor and security guard and access to a business library. To help the businesses operate at the lowest cost, the incubator will share use and cost of office equipment and secretarial services.

LENGTH: Short :   35 lines