TMCnet News
Here's what's next for The Hamilton Mill incubator [Journal-News, Hamilton, Ohio](Hamilton Journal News (OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 28--HAMILTON -- The changes made to The Hamilton Mill business incubator have paid off with the successful recruitment of six new tenants this year, and the center's directors promise more startup companies are in the pipeline to join. The nonprofit, located at 20 High St., provides mentoring and networking services to new business startups. Six young companies joined The Mill in 2014 such as kW River Hydroelectric, which is developing water turbine technology for alternative energy; and Perceptive Devices LLC, which is developing computer technology for hands-free gestures. One of the companies, Lagoon, opened offices at the downtown Hamilton center and was later accepted and moved to the Brandery, a Cincinnati incubator. They join a roster of more than 15 companies working out of Hamilton's former municipal building. "The pace at which we've been bringing in clients and sort of the regional awareness of The Mill, that pace has been faster than we expected," said Rahul Bawa, who became chairman of the incubator in 2013. While more companies are being recruited, The Mill's next steps include helping its recently attracted entrepreneurial clients commercialize their ideas and grow them into successful businesses. Goals are for tenants to one day "graduate," open their own offices and hire workers. "All of the work we've done to date has really been foundational to lay that groundwork to get to that result," Bawa said. "This is not a short-term, result-driven exercise." More mentors are needed with industry expertise to guide the new business owners, such as experts in marketing, manufacturing and law, said Antony Seppi, a Hamilton city employee and The Mill's operations director. "I still think there's a lot of work to be done," Seppi said. "We want to make sure they're given the appropriate programs and services to be successful." Also, plans are to launch a fundraising campaign in mid to late October to help pay for The Mill's ongoing operations, Bawa said. A financial goal has not been set yet, but additional funding could go to help pay for training for the small business owners, for example. "Given that this is the only incubator in Butler County and really the only regional incubator, we really want to lesson our reliance on the city," Bawa said. Other steps are to invest to improve the building's Internet connections and make other modern upgrades, Bawa said. Early plans are forming to, years from now, relocate The Mill to the former SMART Papers site on B Street and add shared manufacturing laboratory space for welding and testing products and prototypes, Bawa said. The plans are so early on that it's not been decided whether that means keeping the current High Street building and adding a second location at the former paper mill, or not, he said. The project would also require major renovations. He said immediate plans to start raising more funds for the incubator do not include a potential relocation. Beginning in summertime 2013, a string of changes were made to refocus and re-energize the former BizTech Center, originally founded in 2003. Among them is a new mission, to accelerate the growth of young companies with ideas for creating "highly commercializable products," and in particular, companies in the advanced manufacturing, clean technology and software sectors. Additionally, the Hamilton center was renamed The Hamilton Mill, new performance measures are in place, there's a new board chair at the helm and new managers are running day-to-day operations. It also houses offices of the Butler County Small Business Development Centers, whose counselors advise tenants, local existing business owners and other entrepreneurs in the community on strategic planning, marketing and gaining access to financial capital. "I think there's' a lot of untapped potential out there in terms of the entrepreneurial ecosystem especially in the Butler County, Warren County, northern Cincinnati (area)," Seppi said. "We're filling that niche." Bawa is also chief operating officer of Blue Chip Venture Co. in Cincinnati; chief executive officer of eMerge Health Solutions in Cincinnati; and is founder and chief executive officer of consulting firm PowerIT Solutions LLC. ___ (c)2014 the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio) Visit the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio) at www.journal-news.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |