Rural businesses often reside in communities that lack adequate business resources. In nearly 100 communities in Appalachia, business incubators are in place to provide this missing support infrastructure to growing firms.

There is no formal network in existence among business incubators that links sites from the entire Region to encourage a sharing of ideas, an exchange of successful models, or the pursuit of innovative approaches to addressing the pressing problems faced by small businesses in rural communities. Only a few incubators in Appalachia belong to the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA), and as a result, participation in national training and performance improvement programs has been limited.

ARC's Entrepreneurship Initiative has set up a steering committee of rural incubator managers to create an ongoing network of rural business incubators within the Region.

At the committee's recommendation, ARC has conducted its second comprehensive survey of business incubators in the Region. The survey includes information on 85 incubators in Appalachia that have graduated nearly 1,300 businesses and helped create more than 38,000 jobs. Over 24,500 of these jobs are directly attributable to currant incubator tenants and graduates. Over half of the responding incubators are affiliated with a university or technical/community college; the average size of the average Appalachian incubator is 41,000 square feet, and the average net leasable area is 31,500 square feet. To request paper copies of the survey, please contact David Hughes, ARC program manager.

Also at the committee's recommendation, ARC has hosted a series of regionwide best-practices conferences targeted at rural incubator managers, local economic developers, and other important decision makers. The Business Incubation for Rural Communities workshops, sponsored by NBIA, the Tennessee Valley Authority, AdvantageWest NC, Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, Charleston Area Alliance and others, have been held each year, beginning in 2000, and have attracted over 1,500 attendees.

With NBIA, ARC has also sponsored a business incubation mentorship program to support new and developing incubators. Applications for this program are available from NBIA.

• Giving Entrepreneurs Greater Access to Capital
• Educating and Training Entrepreneurs
• Encouraging Sector-Based Strategies
• Strategic Support for Business Incubators

Entrepreneurship Initiative