Luzerne Officials Help CAN BE Get off the Ground
May 20, 2004
Hazleton Standard-Speaker
By L.A. Tarone
CAN DO is about to have a new subsidiary agency: CAN BE. And the Luzerne County Commissioners agreed during their meeting at Hazleton City Hall Wednesday night to partially fund it.
CAN BE is an acronym for the Community Association for New Business Entrepreneurship. CAN DO President W. Kevin O'Donnell called it a "new business incubator."
"What we're looking to do is to assist new venture business, and minimize the risks," O'Donnell said. "We will offer them support."
"Let's say you're starting a new business," O'Donnell illustrated. "What we will offer are things such as a Xerox machine, a conference room, secretarial help, you know, all that type of stuff. Because with people around you, your new business stands a much better chance of succeeding."
O'Donnell added CAN BE will be the official name of the subsidiary group which will run the incubation center.
The center itself will be in the Valmont Industrial Park.
O'Donnell said CAN BE is searching for a director right now. The total set-up cost of CAN BE and the center itself is pegged at $310,000. Wednesday night, county commissioners approved a $270,000 loan for the new subsidiary.
The loan is financed through the county's long-running Business Development Loan Program. While specifics weren't discussed, such loans are usually at 4 percent interest and have a seven to 10-year duration.
During the meeting's public comment portion (which was before agenda business was started), O'Donnell thanked the commissioners for past CAN DO support and for what at that moment was the expected passage of the CAN BE loan.
"Too often people don't understand how important it is to have your support," O'Donnell said. He added CAN BE's ultimate goal was "new jobs, new business."
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