St. Louis County seeks to foster business growth

From the September 17, 2004 print edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Eric Heisler of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Louis County has shelved a plan to build a fifth business incubator in favor of opening a center to promote small-business growth.

The county had announced in April 2003 that it would open an incubator in the mid-county area, using a $1.9 million federal grant secured by Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-St. Louis County.

The county operates three incubators that house startup businesses and help them to grow into larger, self-sufficient firms. A fourth incubator is about to open in Wellston. But county officials said recently that they have changed their minds about a fifth incubator and that they%u2019ll use the grant money to establish the Center for Business Growth in Clayton. %u201CWe felt that we could reach more people with the same amount of money,%u201D said Denny Coleman, president of the St. Louis County Economic Council. %u201CThis way, we can provide services to far more companies than we%u2019d be able to serve within the walls of an incubator.%u201D

At the time of last year%u2019s announcement, county officials said that the St. Louis Enterprise Centers program had become popular and that more space was needed. Incubators in Chesterfield, Lemay and midtown St. Louis house 10 to 15 small companies each. There, the businesses can take advantage of reduced rental fees, shared facilities and access to mentors. The incubator in Wellston is expected to open this year.

Funding for the fifth incubator was scheduled to come through a grant from the Small Business Administration, but the Center for Business Growth will be %u201Clike an incubator without walls,%u201D said Donna Heckler, a co-director for the program. %u201CWe recognized that there were so many businesses out there that could use the assistance,%u201D she said, %u201Cand we wondered%u2014couldn%u2019t we expand this to serve more businesses?%u201D

The center will focus on services such as education and mentoring for businesses with at least five employees, mainly firms larger than those in the incubators. As such, the center will address a critical stage of a company%u2019s life cycle that few St. Louis-area programs address, Coleman said. %u201CWe don%u2019t want to focus on startup businesses. We want to focus on the ones who are in the stage of growing,%u201D said Bruce Hoskins, the center%u2019s other co-director.

The center plans to sponsor a speaker series as well as provide smaller businesses with resources from larger firms and universities in the St. Louis area. Also, the center will set up networking events and study issues that concern smaller companies, such as health care. It%u2019s expected to open in November.

The federal money will keep the center afloat for the first four years or so, Coleman said. County officials are studying the issue of how to pay for it going forward.

Republished with the permission of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
© 2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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