Central Nebraskan incubator creates jobs, helps establish entrepreneurs

Renting or buying an office space for a new business can put a business under before it even gets started. For nearly 20 years, Central Community College has been providing a service to visionary entrepreneurs by helping with the most basic essentials such as finding rental space, office supplies and networking. Located in the heart of Nebraska in Kearney, the Small Business Institute through Central Community College was one of the first business incubators in the state.

In the 1990s, businessperson Dale Watley provided the college with a donation to help found the incubator. The institute has since been a major player in economic development in the 25 county region served by Central Community College.

Don Hulme, coordinator of the Small Business Institute, said an incubator in central Nebraska is important because it helps entrepreneurs establish a business in their own town rather than moving to another location for the assistance of an incubator.

“It was established to encourage the formation and growth of small businesses in the area serviced by the community college,” Hulme said.

The incubator provides counseling to small businesses and answers questions the entrepreneurs may have about starting the business. They also counsel already existing small businesses.

The SBI also has a specific location that serves as the business incubator, a space for clients to use for their business to save money on finding a location elsewhere. Its services have served anyone from manufacturers, service organizations, an auction house and a caterer.

“We’ve talked with any kind of business we can imagine,” Hulme said. “We’ve had varying kinds of businesses in our incubator.”

Small business owners utilizing the incubator are required to pay utilities and costs associated with the business. However, Hulme said the savings from using the incubator are higher than going elsewhere.

“We offer a facility that says ‘would you like to come into our facility?’ with a  little more space,” Hulme said. “We provide a building and a small lease amount less than going somewhere else. We’re fairly successful with our incubator.

“We offer them with services in advertising and we’ll try to find some help for them in bookkeeping.”

Like most incubators, the SBI also has a small loan revolving program. Instead of competing with banks, the SBI is able to provide some funds to these businesses and once the business pays back that loan, the money is then provided to another small business, creating a cycle.

The small business is allowed up to three years in the building location.

Hulme said the success rate of the SBI’s incubator is a good sign of the upward trend of entrepreneurship in places like Nebraska.

“We’ve been around a long time, we have a pretty good success rate,” he said. “I see a slight increase in those people wanting to start a business. On the incubator side, I see us growing into an incubator that makes available space for technology and Internet-type business startups.

The Small Business Institute at the Central Community College established the incubator with the goal to help business ventures see their visions become realities. Today, it still does this but its role is more important during the recent economic times because it helps spur job growth.

“One of our main purposes here is create new jobs,” Hulme said. “Small businesses are the real heart of what’s going on in the state.”