By : James Dowd
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com
Category : Small Business Grant
On the strength of last month's announcement by Gov. Bill Haslam that Memphis Bioworks Foundation will be the site of one of nine regional entrepreneurial accelerators in Tennessee, executives with the U.S. Small Business Administration visited the Bluff City on Tuesday to tour the facility and discuss future collaborations with the organization.
Developing partnerships with entrepreneurial associations is key to future job creation, said Cassius Butts, SBA regional administrator based in Atlanta, and working with the newly formed accelerators such as the one at Bioworks will enable the agency to disseminate its programming to a larger constituency and help revitalize the economy.
"We're impressed with the steps you're taking to address the needs in your community at home and then build out from there," Butts said. "We want to partner with other agencies to integrate our efforts and do a better job of promoting business growth."
Walter Perry, Tennessee's SBA district director from Nashville, agreed.
"Shelby County led the state this year in the number of SBA-backed loans, and our goal is to help even more entrepreneurs and small-business owners grow their companies next year," Perry said. "Collaborating with local, state and federal resources will allow us to do that."
Brandon Wellford, Bioworks chief financial officer and manager of the incubation center at the site, said the facility used a grant from the SBA to augment its programming during the last year and hopes to add more practical educational offerings in the future.
One way to ensure quality training, he added, is by coordinating efforts with other entrepreneurial organizations in the city, as well as with the University of Memphis.
"At the end of the day, it's all about jobs. Real economic development is our mission," Wellford said. "We help the people who start companies and create jobs, and this type of initiative will allow us to do more. This is a way we can take the assets we already have in our communities and make them better."
Bioworks, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing biosciences, offers training and office space and programming for entrepreneurs.
Under the recently launched initiative, Bioworks will act as the fiscal agent for the new regional accelerator in conjunction with about two dozen partner organizations. The accelerator program is part of Haslam's INCITE plan, which also includes the Startup Tennessee program.
Grants of $250,000 will be awarded to each accelerator. Funding is a combination of state and federal dollars, and is contingent upon each accelerator providing at minimum an additional $250,000 in local matching support.
Source : http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/dec/14/federal-sba-officers-tour-memphis-bioworks/
