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“On BEC’s board of advisors,we have about 30 business professionals — lawyers, accountants, company executives, community leaders — who advise us and our companies,” says Pete McDonald, Coosa Valley Tech VP of economic development. “If the companies are worried about taxes, for instance, they can sit down with one of these accountants free of charge and be advised.”

At the SBI in Augusta, Director Laura Geddings similarly keeps in close touch with the fledgling businesses being supported by the incubator.

“The advisory board is required,” she says. “It’s really for their benefit to let us track how well they’re doing. We provide written minutes quarterly [and] they also take advantage of any seminars or workshops we provide. And I’m always trying to link them to any funding sources I find out about.”

Attracting new business
In his role as director of the BEC, Ronnie Wallace has in just three years managed to draw a remarkably diverse slate of clients to his facility’s roster, in part by actively filling the role of “mother hen” as he nurtures young businesses. “The center is meant to be as close to a ‘safe haven’ for entrepreneurs as possible,” says Wallace. “We provide low-cost office space — below market pricing — as well as professional assistance.”

While the BEC is relatively small — a 38,000-sq.-ft. converted furniture factory in a depressed Rome neighborhood — it numbers among its eight current clients a state-of-the-art biometrics laboratory (installed for Beocarta, a Scotland-based biotech firm) and a company that manufactures portable cooling towers for businesses throughout North America.

“The incubator has helped us bring in new jobs that we haven’t seen in this area before,” says Pete McDonald. “The biotech company, for example, is the only one I’m aware of in northwest Georgia. As with most incubators, our lease fees are about 60 percent of what comparable market value properties would be. [Clients] pay a single fee each month that covers utilities, phone lines, computer access, heat and air.”