Establishing Viable Small Business Incubators in Regional Areas by Garry Bargh ISSUES: The (small) size of regional incubators. The related issue of providing management and business support services. Small populations and local economies. In some areas stagnating or declining economies. Lack of availability of flexible rented spaces. High unemployment, lack of employment opportunities in the formal/informal sectors. DEVELOPMENTS: The accepted thinking was that 1500 sq m of rented space was the minimum needed to create viable incubators with sufficient income to support a range of services Is it possible to create viable smaller regional incubators?? The answer is yes if the incubators are embedded with organisations and a network is established to achieve economies of scale and income to provide the required services. BETC Experience: BETC manages two incubators, The Ballina Business Centre, opened 1991, 209 sq.metres of letted space and the Byron Business Village, 1999, 603 sq.metres of letted space. Both incubators are 100% occupied with 27 tenants and a waiting list. Net profit in 2002/03 was $40000. BETC is developing two incubators, at Tweed heads and Mullumbimby, which will give us a total of 35 units. All incubators are within 50 minutes of travel from our head Office. The Tweed BEC will locate within the tweed incubator, providing enhanced business services. The key to success would seem to be forming strategic alliances with other organisations and embedding the incubators. One of our incubators would not be viable as a stand-alone incubator.
Garry has been managing BETC, a community not for profit business for the past 14 years, BETC manages a number of employment and training programs including two small business incubators. He was one of the founding members of ANZABI. Prior to this Garry spent 15 years working as a project manager for NGO’s in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. In 1993 BETC opened the Ballina Business Centre, with 12 units, one of the first regional light industrial incubators with 12 tenants, funded through the NSW State and Federal governments. In 1999 we purpose built the Byron Business Village with 15 units. The BBV was established as a retail centre where tenants could make goods and products for sale and retail them from their units, at this time this was a relatively new concept. Both incubators are fully owned by the sponsor and operating at 100% capacity since opening, with a waiting list. In 2001 BETC won the DEWR Regional Incubator of the Year Award and the Innovation Award for BBV. In 2002 one of our graduates, Mark Wallace won the AusIndustry Graduate of the Year Award. Garry is currently working on establishing two new incubators in Tweed Heads and Mullumbimby, which will be incorporated into a newly established Innovation and Learning Centre. Garry believes the viability of regional incubators depends on establishing a regional network of incubators and strategic alliances to provide economies of scale and enhanced business support services. Our incubators do not have resident managers, providing management services from our Head Office in Ballina, including business advice. In December 2002 we hosted a visit by 8 Nepalese from an NGO based in Kathmandu, Nepal, visiting incubators in Queensland and NSW. Since returning to Nepal they have requested a proposal for an incubator study to be conducted in Nepal.