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The Business Development division of the Community Development Foundation offers business assistance to small enterprises. We offer one-on-one consultation on how to start a business, how to write a business plan and where to get financing. In addition, we research demographic and labor force data of Tupelo, Lee County and surrounding counties, and we keep up with new businesses opening in our area. If you have been thinking about going into business for yourself and you have questions, please don't hesitate to call us.
A large part of the business development division is to establish a business incubator program. Business incubators have become very popular economic development tools around the world. They nurture and offer closely managed enterprise development support for companies at a time when they are most vulnerable. The main goal of business incubation is to produce successful graduates - businesses that are financially viable and freestanding when they leave the incubator, usually in two to three years.
We can look at incubators as one-stop facilities for tenants (and other businesses in the area) to receive business counseling, training, and information under one roof. Services offered by business incubators include, but are not limited to, assistance with business basics, such as management and financial training, technical services, such as legal assistance, accounting and research, as well as administrative services. The biggest benefit of an incubator, however, is networking of tenants with each other and with outside resources. Daily contact amongst the tenants and with outside firms and universities greatly increases the entrepreneurs' success rate.
The following facts of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) highlight the various benefits of business incubation: For every $1 of estimated annual public operating subsidy provided to the incubator, clients and graduates of NBIA member incubators generate approximately $45 in local tax revenue alone.
NBIA members report that 84 percent of incubator graduates stay in their communities and continue to provide a return to their investors. Publicly supported incubators create jobs at a cost of about $1,100 each, whereas other publicly supported job creation mechanisms commonly cost more than $10,000 per job created. Every 50 jobs created by an incubator client generate another 25 jobs in the community. Today there are more than 800 business incubators in North America, up from 12 in 1980. Forty percent of incubators are technology-focused, 30 percent are mixed-use, focusing on a wide variety of clients, and the remainder concentrates on service, light industrial and niche markets or on assisting targeted populations.
Taking into consideration the many benefits of an incubator, the staff of CDF is confident that businesses in Tupelo and the surrounding counties will draw many profits from the soon-to-come mixed-use incubator. We would like to give our project a regional scope, proposing services for Itawamba and Pontotoc Counties. If you have any questions regarding this project, of if you feel like you could be a potential client, please feel free to contact us.
INCUBATOR UPDATE
CDF Board of Directors approves Site Location for the Business
Incubator
On November 25, 2002, the Community Development Foundation’s
Board of Directors unanimously approved the location for the
business incubator. The decision, which is the outcome of
long deliberations between CDF and the Tupelo Redevelopment
Agency, reflects CDF’s and TRA’s willingness to
support each other in the development of entrepreneurship
as well as the progress of downtown Tupelo.
The 2.8 acre site is located on the corner of Main Street
and Elizabeth Street, across from the Convention and Visitors
Bureau and the Automobile Museum as well as the first TVA
substation. It is a highly visible spot from Highway 45, and
serves as a gateway to downtown Tupelo. The large site will
enable future expansion of the incubator.
Chris Rogers, Chairman of TRA, stated that, “TRA is
very excited about partnering with CDF on the development
of the incubator for Tupelo and Lee County. We will work hard
to prepare the site for the construction of the [incubator]
facility.”
David P. Rumbarger, President and CEO of CDF, added, “This
site, within clear view of Highway 45, will allow quick access
for the region to the incubator as well as being a part of
the Fairpark District for downtown Tupelo. The Tupelo Redevelopment
Agency worked hard to overcome the obstacles to a Fairpark
site and met the expectations of the CDF board and our incubator
consultants, Stacey and Associates, as they wrestled with
the location decision. What we got was a winning site for
Tupelo/Lee County and one that will be a landmark for the
region."
For more information contact:
Wayne Averett
waverett@cdfms.org
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