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First client graduates from CAN BE’s business incubator program

September 24, 2008
For more information contact Precision Design, 570-455-3533

AeroSolutions, LLC, recently became the first client to graduate from CAN BE’s business incubator program. A graduation event was held Wednesday to mark the occasion. From left: attorney George Hludzik, chairman of the board, Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce; Ken Okrepkie, Ben Franklin Technology Partners; Jack St. Pierre, executive director, CAN BE; Brian Reese, vice president of operations, AeroSolutions; Kevin O’Donnell, president, CAN DO; and Dr. Gary Lawler, chancellor, Penn State Hazleton.

West Hazleton - Growing for three years in CAN BE’s business incubator has led to great success for AeroSolutions, a company that engineers, upgrades and maintains telecommunications towers nationwide.

In fact, during the past three years, the company has become so successful that it’s increased its revenue and number of local employees five times, said Brian Reese, vice president of operations for AeroSolutions.

On Wednesday, officials from AeroSolutions were joined by CAN BE and CAN DO representatives in a “graduation” event, as the company has moved from the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center in Valmont Industrial Park into new and larger offices in the Markle Building in downtown Hazleton.

AeroSolutions was founded in Colorado in 2002. Reese opened a home office in the Hazleton area in August 2004 and moved the office to the incubator in May 2005.

The corporate office in Boulder, Colo., handles sales, accounting, product development, engineering and estimating. In the East, the Hazleton office handles operations, estimating, engineering, freight and logistics.

“The business grew five times while we were in the incubator. When we moved here in 2005, we started with myself and a temporary worker who later became full-time. We now have 10 employees. Our company’s sales revenue has also exploded. In 2005, we had $4 million in sales. At the end of last year, our sales were close to $20 million,” said Reese, who credits CAN BE’s program with much of his company’s success.

“CAN BE’s aggressive lease rate and supporting services here have allowed me to remain focused on other aspects of growing the business,” he said. “We’ve had a great deal of positive business activity while in the incubator. In fact, during our time here, we doubled the office space we occupied due to the growth we were already experiencing.”

Jack St. Pierre, CAN BE’s executive director, said that AeroSolutions’ growth and graduation are further proof of the benefits a business obtains from being in an incubator. “We do everything we can to assist our clients as they begin to grow their businesses. Here, they receive business consulting, low lease rates, shared office equipment, help in securing financing and networking, among many other benefits,” he said.

“Business incubators have a true impact when it comes to helping companies succeed. A report from the National Business Incubation Association shows that 87 percent of businesses started in an incubator are still in operation five years later, and 84 percent of incubator graduates stay in their communities after graduation from the program,” St. Pierre said. “It’s wonderful that AeroSolutions is among that 84 percent and will stay in our area, keeping highly technical jobs here.”

Reese said St. Pierre has been “instrumental” in keeping the AeroSolutions office in Greater Hazleton. “The goal of this program is to stay local, and we wanted that, too. Jack helped work out a situation where we’d stay in the Hazleton area,” Reese said.

“Hats off to CAN DO and CAN BE. They have kept jobs and people in this area and made this area vibrant. And during the last few years, they’ve worked to attract college graduates here with different types of jobs,” Reese said.

Kevin O’Donnell, CAN DO president, said he is very pleased with CAN BE’s accomplishments toward helping a variety of businesses succeed. “

CAN DO created CAN BE to assist businesses as they become successful firms able to function on their own, establishing more business and industry for Greater Hazleton. Although AeroSolutions began in its Colorado office, its Hazleton location has grown by leaps and bounds since moving into CAN BE’s incubator,” he said.

“CAN DO is always excited to see business development taking place throughout our communities. The incubator has far surpassed our initial goals by the number of tenants it has had and by the achievements of those tenants. The success of AeroSolutions translates into success for CAN BE. We expect many more success stories to come out of this incubator,” O’Donnell said.

He thanked the many people and organizations that have helped the incubator be so successful.

St. Pierre wished Reese and AeroSolutions well as the company continues to grow, saying, “From the time AeroSolutions located in the incubator, I knew they had a winning plan for success. I’m happy that they have done so well and look forward to hearing more about AeroSolutions’ accomplishments in the future.”

Space in the incubator is available in various sizes for interested new prospects. CAN BE is also hosting a series of five seminars in its “Start Your Own Business” series for 2008-2009 to assist entrepreneurs as they work to launch their businesses.

For more information on the incubator program, call CAN BE at (570) 455-8334 or visit www.canbe.biz. For more information on AeroSolutions, call (570) 455-7736 or visit www.aerosolutionsllc.com.