Sunday, June 14, 1998BY LISA BIANK FASIG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After a couple of months of money-raising efforts, the Cincinnati Business Incubator Inc. has put an engine in its vehicle to raise new-building funds.
The Mount Auburn-Corryville-based incubator has appointed consultant Janet Reid as voluntary chairwoman of a capital campaign to raise $750,000 for a new building. Ms. Reid is president of Global Lead Management Consultants in Roselawn.
"The good news is it has already begun," Ms. Reid said about the fund raising.
In earnest. The incubator (CBI) so far has collected $125,000 in corporate and group donations toward its goal. The capital campaign, though just now publicized, has been on CBI's radar screen for some time.
"What we wanted to do was raise at least 20 percent of the funds before making a public announcement," said Annette Smith Tarver, chief executive of CBI.
Ms. Reid said the next step is to target about 20 more corporations for contributions. So far, the Procter & Gamble Fund, Provident Bank and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation have made gifts.
The $750,000 would buy and renovate a building that would more than double the incubator's tenant space. Currently, CBI can't accommodate the number of businesses interested in setting up there.
An incubator is a kind of shared work complex for just-hatched businesses. Typically, the start-ups pay a reduced rate on rent and share office functions, such as the fax, copiers and answering service. CBI focuses on women- and minority-owned businesses, but it changed its name last summer in an effort to be more inclusive.
Which it has become. CBI is at capacity with seven tenants and 14 affiliate tenants who conduct business off the premises but use its resources.
The new space -- at 13,000 to 15,000 square feet -- would support 20 tenants and perhaps three times as many affiliates. The building also would house a primary operating facility, the centerpiece of which would be an entrepreneurial training institute.
Ideally, the training institute could be used by other small-business organizations, creating a broad-ranging network.
CBI has its eye on two buildings in the Corryville-Mount Auburn area.
Mrs. Smith Tarver said CBI selected Ms. Reid to lead the campaign because she is a "successful minority-business female entrepreneur who really represents in my mind what people in its category . . . what they can accomplish."
But the role is temporary and will be dissolved when CBI reaches its goal. Ms. Reid said that is intentional and expects the campaign to end in about six months.
"I consider it quite an honor," she said. "(But) the staff, the folks there, they've done a phenomenal job."
Other members of the campaign committee include Clifford Bailey, TechSoft Systems Inc.; Cynthia Booth, Star Bank NA; Herbert Brown, Western-Southern Life; Calvin Buford, Dinsmore & Shohl; Fred Diamond, Fund Evaluation Group; Angelita Moreno Jones, Eastern Personnel Services Inc.; and Lavatus Powell, a retired P&G executive.
Lisa Biank Fasig covers small-business news for The Enquirer. Call her at 768-8498 or e-mail her at lfasig@enquirer.com.
