Seminar enlightens owners, would-be owners who are considering incubator

The downtown incubator project has been an active initiative since the concept was announced 21 months ago. Yet, it took a significant first step Thursday morning.
Organizers conducted a seminar for small-business owners and those thinking of becoming one in the unused pressroom of Observer Publishing Co. The event, labeled First Step, featured a small group of speakers who provided advice, guidance and cautionary tales to an audience of about 15 who may consider leasing a space in the Greater Washington Area Business Incubator.
This was the initial official public gathering related to WABI, a public/private partnership among OPC, Washington & Jefferson College and the city of Washington. OPC, which publishes the Observer-Reporter daily newspaper, offered its former circulation building on South Main Street and its pressroom on Strawberry Way to W&J rent-free for 10 years.
The incubator idea – designed to attract, develop and retain small businesses – was hatched in late September 2016.
Max Miller, WABI’s executive director and director of entrepreneurial studies at W&J, addressed the owners and would-be owners along with Ray Vargo, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Small Business Development Center, and Tripp Kline, a local entrepreneur. Alisa Fava Fasnacht, co-owner of Emerald Valley Artisans – a wholesaler, distributor and manufacturer of artisanal cheeses – also spoke. She talked about operating a retail store, which launched about six months ago across from the O-R offices.
There are no businesses in the incubator as yet, but Miller is cautiously optimistic.
“If we get construction started this summer,” he said, “we could have our first tenants in early 2019.”
A follow-up seminar is planned in the pressroom, likely in early autumn.