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Incubator failed to help entrepreneurs

A small business incubator in Waynesville has failed in it mission to nurture entrepreneurs and start-up companies, and instead has devolved into little more than a building to house a handful of companies for the long haul, according to critics.

The same five businesses have been parked in the incubator for seven, eight, nine and 10 years, getting rent far below market rates. The cheap rent is supposed to help start-up companies in formative years. Most incubators move a company out within three years — five at the most — freeing up space for the next entrepreneur, and in turn creating jobs.

But the incubator in Waynesville has been an abysmal failure at creating self-sustaining businesses, according to Haywood County Commissioner Chairman Mark Swanger.

“I don’t think there is any question this incubator has been mismanaged,” Swanger said. “If you allow a business to stay indefinitely, you are eliminating space another start-up could use. The whole idea is to get businesses on their feet and graduate them out to create more jobs.”

By Becky Johnson • Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/01_06/01_04_06/incubator_failed.html

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Incubator episode may have long-term consequences
By Becky Johnson • Staff Writer

A business incubator building in Waynesville has become the epicenter for a political firestorm among Haywood County officials looking to grow small businesses in the region.

Convinced the incubator was being squandered by the Smoky Mountain Development Corporation — a not-for-profit economic development group — and its long-time director Tommy Fouts, a coalition of critics instigated a movement to wrest the incubator from the corporation’s control. The critics — including some Smoky Mountain Development Corporation board members — believed Haywood County’s Economic Development Commission was better equipped to own and run the incubator.

That’s nearly what happened.

Full Story: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/01_06/01_04_06/fr_incubator_episode.html

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Incubator snapshots
SMN

A snapshot of other incubators across the state offer models of how the incubator in Waynesville could be revamped.

Full Story: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/01_06/01_04_06/fr_web_incubators.html

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(Many thanks to Ed Morrison and his EDProWeblog http://edpro.blogspot.com/ for bringing this situation to our attention. Russ)

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