Start-ups could find new life at SBDC incubator

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

 When the vetting is completed in a month or so, administrators with the Small Business Development Center at FAMU hope to have at least 10 businesses set up in a new incubator.

“They might not have any idea how to start a business. Well; they can come here,” said Ron McCoy, director of the SBDC incubator. “We will take them from point A to point Z.”

Audra McGlockton, interim director of SBDC at FAMU, a cross-section on business, community leaders and elected officials from the City and Leon County governments, launched the incubator with a ribbon-cutting last Tuesday. The incubator is set up on an upper floor of the SBDC’s offices on East Tennessee Street.

The launch kicked off the SBDC’s Big Bend Regional Small Business Week. It was followed by an all-day workshop at the Turnbull Center last Wednesday. Another session was also held on Thursday.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, officials said they plan to make the incubator a hub for entrepreneurs.

“We are going to go out and continue to sound the alarm so that women, men, boys and girls will know that this is the place to come to get your start,” said City Commissioner Dianne Williams Cox.

She was followed by Leon County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings, who called the timing of the incubator ideal for small business owners who were wiped out by the pandemic. She expressed hope that minority start-ups will take advantage of having a structure to run their businesses.

“This incubator will address many of the barriers that women and minority owned businesses face,” Cummings said.

Entrepreneurs historically have looked to incubators when they can’t immediately afford the overhead of having a brick and mortar location. Application for using the incubator will be open before the end of this month, McCoy said. Those who qualify will be vetted before a decision is made on who gets in first, he said. 

Wells Fargo Bank invested $280,000 into making the incubator possible. It has 14 work stations, two conference rooms a lounge and a break room.

Partnering with the SBDC was a no-brainer, said Kimble Lewis, Wells Fargo’s Senior Vice President for Small Business Development Manager.

“The values that they have are in line with ours, which is diversity, inclusion and equity,” said Lewis, elaborating on the partnership. “We’ve found that there is an opportunity to support business owners who have a vision and a dream. We have a history of doing that and this is part of our effort to continue to give back to the community.”

Clients who use the incubator would have about six months to a year to prepare themselves for the next step in their growth, said McGlockton. In addition to a government declaration that the pandemic is over, McGlockton said a recent uptick in start-up businesses should spur interest in the incubator.

“Even though we have challenges with the economy and all of that, they are starting to come back,” he said, referring to small businesses. “People are beginning to get that entrepreneur mindset to maybe start a new business or restart what they lost in COVID. Now is an opportune time to come into a facility like this. The incubator will help them begin to grow, develop, strengthen and get themselves ready to launch out again.”