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Survey will decide fate of W&J business incubator

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Julie Throckmorton, foundation and corporate relations officer, said Washington & Jefferson College has considered launching a business incubator for years.

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Jim and Gail Greenwood of Greenwood Consulting Group are launching a survery to determine the feasibility of launching a business incubator in Washington.

Jim Greenwood is no obstetrician, but he may be at the forefront of a distinctive delivery.

He and his wife, Gail, own Greenwood Consulting Group Inc., based in Sanibel Island, Fla. Washington & Jefferson College hired his company to determine the feasibility of conceiving a business incubator in Washington.

W&J has discussed launching an incubator for more than a decade, intended to benefit business-oriented students and the city. The talk has taken a more serious tenor in recent years and peaked recently, when the private college got a $186,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation in Pittsburgh.

“That was just for planning,” said Julie Throckmorton, foundation and corporate relations officer at W&J.

The planning led the school to Greenwood Consulting, which led to a market survey the Greenwoods developed, which – pending positive feedback – may lead to the city’s first business incubator.

“The purpose of our feasibility study is, ‘will an incubator work in the Washington area,'” Jim Greenwood said. “The survey will give us an idea if there is a market for this idea.”

If the response is lukewarm or poor, Greenwood will likely recommend that the idea be dashed. If it’s favorable, thumbs up.

“I’m an advocate for incubators, but I don’t want a bad incubator starting,” he said.

The 13-part, four-page survey became available to the public last week at http://tiny.cc/washingtonincubator. Greenwood would like to have responses by Aug. 15.

The first three paragraphs of the survey outline its purpose:

A small business incubator is being considered for the Washington area (that) would help small businesses (including startups and existing firms) be more successful. It could include a building that houses 10-20 startup and existing small businesses that share things like photocopiers, computers and conference rooms. It also would give small and startup businesses ready access to business assistance, through on-site workshops and one-on-one help.

This incubator might include facilities and resources that focus on the needs of some targeted industries. However, the incubator likely would be “mixed-use,” meaning it would assist small and startup businesses in a variety of industries and markets.

To help us decide if a business incubator makes sense for the Washington area, we are asking for your opinion … please take a few moments to complete this survey ….”

Responses may be e-mailed to gail-jim@g-jgreenwood.com; mailed to Business Incubator Survey, Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc., 1150 Junonia, Sanibel, FL 33957; or faxed to 239-395-9446.

Throckmorton stressed that the survey “is open to everyone, not only people who are interested in starting a business, but already have a business. This is a community initiative as well as one for the college.”

She said a positive survey also will likely determine “who will champion or run the business incubator.” It could be one of two W&J entities, the Entrepreneurial Studies Center or the Small Business Center.

There are a number of potential incubator sites, a likely one being the virtually empty United Way building on Cherry Avenue. Throckmorton said W&J owns it and uses it for storage. “Our facilities team takes care of it.”

Greenwood was in Washington last week, meeting community and business leaders, state Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, and state Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane. He also was scouting possible venues.

He was not well-versed in this area when he arrived; his company’s nearest incubator projects are in Youngstown, Ohio, and Chambersburg in south-central Pennsylvania.

“I walked up and down Main Street and got a good feel for the area,” Greenwood said. “Some places need work, but I saw a lot of positive things here.”

Though the idea was introduced 13 years ago, a business incubator has yet to be hatched here.

Dr. Brian Mitchell, W&J’s president at the time, raised that prospect in February 2000 and Bill Mayfield, a former director of the Entrepreneurial Studies Center, talked about it in early 2001. The subject came up two other times that year, after W&J received a $50,000 grant from the Benedum Foundation and a $150,000 federal grant earmarked for a new recreational and economic center.

Then in 2011, Washington County’s Local Share Account panel rejected the nonprofit, tax-exempt college’s bid for $962,436 in LSA funds for an incubator.

The Greenwood’s are accustomed to working with colleges on incubator projects, saying that of 80-plus they are involved with nationwide, “I’d say half have a tie to a college or university,” Jim said. “This one is unusual because it is a private, liberal arts college. Usually, it’s a community college or a large college.”

The survey, Greenwood said, not only will determine whether Washington is ready for an incubator, but what type would be best. He favors a “mixed-use” incubator over one in a specific area.

“Mixed use casts a wide net,” he said. “I know that a specialized incubator does not usually work in a smaller area like Washington. It’s safe to say it will be a variety of incubators.

“But this will be determined by a survey. I don’t have a crystal ball to know what is wanted.”

In other words, Jim Greenwood isn’t an obstetrician or Nostradamus.

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