Bredesen to help cut ribbon on business incubator
08/27/2003
By: Hank Hayes

KINGSPORT - The Holston Business Development Center, which will officially open for business with much fanfare Thursday morning, is off to a running start.Four companies have already set up shop inside the 13,000-square-foot business incubator, which awaits an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, U.S. Rep. Bill Jenkins and a host of other dignitaries taking part in grand-opening ceremonies.

The incubator's up-and-running companies are Appalachian Geographics, which provides geographic information to private companies and governments; Linguablus, an international company that does foreign language translations; Rhino Solutions, a credit management firm working with mortgage companies and individuals to obtain mortgages for new homes and business ventures; and Sales Tools, which sells a database of information on 16,000 businesses in the Tri-Cities.

Five other companies are awaiting approval of their business plans from the Holston Business Group board of directors, said Jim Anderson, the incubator's general manager.

"Everybody starts small and has to grow," Anderson said of the incubator. "(Microsoft founder) Bill Gates started in his father's basement. So you never know. Some of these could end up being large companies in a few years, and they may not."

The incubator, located adjacent to Holston Army Ammunition Plant on West Stone Drive, will be capable of housing up to 24 businesses and offers low-rent space, secretarial assistance, a conference room, telephone and computer equipment, and access to an electronic business library.

Anderson said the incubator also offers its tenants technical assistance through the East Tennessee State University Small Business Development Center and business counseling through the Service Corps Of Retired Executives (SCORE).

The project is the result of a partnership among BAE Systems, the city of Kingsport, Hawkins County, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, and the U.S. Army Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support Program.

Anderson, who formerly worked with the TDECD, said the incubator project is costing close to a million dollars.

Anderson added he is looking for non-retail business start-ups, normally in their first year of operation with good credit histories.

Tenants will be entrepreneurs with marketable ideas, or newly organized for-profit technology-related businesses, assembly, or light manufacturing companies.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration footed $546,000 of the project's bill, while the U.S. Army Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support Program chipped in $200,000. The Tennessee Infrastructure Improvement Program contributed $164,000, and Kingsport and Hawkins County each gave $180,000 to the project. The U.S. Army is leasing the land to the Holston Business Development Group for $20 for 20 years.

Anderson said his goal is to reach 100 percent capacity at the incubator by the end of 2004.