EDITORIAL: Business incubator has shining potential

Published 11:25 pm Saturday, August 31, 2019

A new initiative has taken root in Milledgeville, to guide entrepreneurs in shaping their vision and putting it into action. 

The Milledgeville Incubator Community is up and running, offering workshops, networking opportunities and tutelage to prospective business owners. 

News this week of the impending closure of the local Mohawk plant is tough news to swallow. Hopefully, the incubator is a spark of positive business news that has great potential. 

And the community should tout it so that everyone knows about it.

We need to nurture this initiative and this kind of innovative business spirit to help bring employment opportunities and other resources to our towns.

The MIC is a community-based organization that partners with other local entities and leaders to generate support for new, growing, and existing businesses to sustain growth and embrace change and become more profitable and a thriving part of the economic engine of Baldwin County. 

The MIC’s inaugural event was held at the Twin Lakes Library Hancock Branch Annex located at 127 E. Hancock St. for small business owners to connect and learn from industry experts. The summer workshop, Lemonade Stand to Business Plan, targeted young entrepreneurs wanting to turn a family business idea into a workable and successful business plan. It was so successful that other dates have been slated for September and October with topics ranging from product and service development to logistics of product delivery, financial management, and adding value to existing businesses. 

All of the programs thus far have been offered free of charge.

This initiative will only see genuine lasting success if people take advantage and utilize its resources. That’s where we all play a role — in sharing news and information about the business incubator and its purpose and function and spreading the word in our neighborhoods and communities so that other prospective entrepreneurs can learn and discover more about this resource. 

As the Baldwin school district expands its CTAE career pathways to offer students more courses and career options, there is potential for partnerships there. Our next young local business owners could be taking courses and receiving valuable skills and information through the incubator right now. There’s 

Of course, only time will tell what comes of this initiative, but we hope it leads to great things to come on the business front. And that would certainly be welcomed good news for the community.