CAN BE’s executive director presents at business incubation conference
May 12, 2008
For more information contact Precision Design, 570-455-3533
WEST HAZLETON - CAN BE Executive Director Jack St. Pierre recently spoke at the 22nd International Conference on Business Incubation, held May 5 to 7 in San Antonio, Texas.
CAN BE is a nonprofit division of CAN DO Inc. and operates the area’s business incubator, the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center in Valmont Industrial Park, West Hazleton.
St. Pierre’s presentation was entitled “Incubators in Small Towns and Rural Areas” and focused on how business incubators can achieve success in those areas. He discussed CAN BE’s incubator, which has space for both office and light manufacturing use, and shared details on how others can set up similar incubation programs.
“I had a great time at the conference this year. I learned some helpful information the past two times I attended and now I hope others came away with some new ideas from my presentation. Our local program has been successful and I’m excited to share that success,” St. Pierre said.
He also talked about CAN BE’s “Start Your Own Business” seminar series and how the series helped CAN BE identify prospective entrepreneurs and develop leads on new tenants for the business incubator. The series featured topics such as a Start Your Own Business overview, Getting Your Business Off the Ground, Marketing Your New Business, Financials: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You, Why Small Businesses Succeed and The Final Steps to a Successful Start-Up.
“Small towns and rural areas can be difficult markets. Incubators in those regions are often faced with unique challenges, including limited technology, lack of resources and few entrepreneurs,” St. Pierre said.
“At the conference, I shared that there are many ways to be creative in terms of getting entrepreneurs to come out of the woodwork. For us, those ways included the seminar series and local television appearances that have educated the community about our business incubator and what we do,” he said.
St. Pierre launched a plastics manufacturing business in the Hazleton area in 1986 and has 40 years of experience in business, including manufacturing, sales and marketing. As CAN BE’s executive director, he offers his experience and advice to fledgling businesses in the incubator.
The CAN BE incubator program helps establish new business and industry for the area, giving local entrepreneurs the keys to turn their ideas into ventures that will become successful firms able to function on their own. Companies that “graduate” from an incubator program have the potential to create new jobs, commercialize new technologies and strengthen the local economy.
CAN BE is funded in part by grants from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania and PPL Electric Utilities. Penn State Hazleton is an educational partner.
For more information on the incubator program, call CAN BE at (570) 455-8334 or visit online at www.canbe.biz.
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