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September 6, 2012
By Chris Pow | cpow@al.com
University of Alabama president Guy Bailey speaks at the unveiling of The Edge Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation business incubator in downtown Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Sept. 6, 2012. The center was developed through a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, the City of Tuscaloosa and the university. (Chris Pow / al.com)
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Officials unveiled a new business incubator in downtown Tuscaloosa Thursday afternoon that will serve as a working space for entrepreneurs and University of Alabama students. The Edge Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the corner of 22nd Avenue and Eighth Street was developed through a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, the City of Tuscaloosa and the university. The nearly 9,000-square-foot building has space for seven tenants in offices, 16 co-working spaces, conference rooms and shared administrative space, said Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama president and CEO Jim Page. The center is also set up to hold classes and workshops and to provide mentoring opportunities. "In this facility, it really is a one-stop shop for budding entrepreneurs and for existing business owners," Page said. One wing of the facility will be used by UA to help provide student entrepreneurs with resources to launch their own businesses. The university is expected to start using their space within the next few days, Page said. Page said the center fills an important role in assisting small business owners who are just starting out and want to work in a professional atmosphere of innovation and collaboration. "One of the missing pieces of the economic development puzzle in our opinion is a focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and small business development," Page said. "We do a fantastic job in this community of recruiting industry, recruiting retail, but the missing piece has really been entrepreneurship." The center will operate for two years out of the building owned by Regions Bank in a test run that will gauge the demand for the space, Page said. Plans for The Edge came out of some conversations Page had with Mike Hardin, the dean of UA's Culverhouse College of Commerce, about a business incubator being a missing component in the community. The university's manpower and resources have been crucial to its development, Page said. Hardin mentioned Apple and Facebook as examples of companies that began small but quickly became successes when speaking about the potential for student startups. "There's no reason that the next company that skyrockets on Wall Street shouldn't say 'Roll Tide,'" Hardin said. "That's the direction I think we're going to go."
Hardin thanked UA System Chancellor Robert Witt and executive vice president and provost Judy Booner for their belief that the university should reach out and be involved in economic development in the area.
UA president Guy Bailey said the university will support students in their efforts in starting businesses by providing information and other resources.
"This innovation center opening up is really a sign of the kinds of good things that are going on at the university," Bailey said. "It's something that we'll support -- that's in outreach and also business startup. It's how we invest in the community."
Bailey said that he recognizes that small businesses drive the economy and introduce innovation.
"If you start up businesses here, they're likely to stay here," Bailey said. "We have bright, inventive, creative people at the university and if we can help those people and others start businesses in Tuscaloosa, we hope they'll stay in Tuscaloosa."
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said Page pressed the issue of starting a business incubator, an idea he said that had been discussed by the city for years. Launching a center for entrepreneurship is as important as bringing in new businesses to the area, such as when German auto supplier Boysen announced it would bring around 99 jobs to the area with a $34 million plant near Vance, Maddox said.
"As great as those 99 jobs we attracted to our community are, now we get to build 99 jobs here from the ground up and hopefully a lot more than 99 jobs -- hundreds of good-paying jobs that will keep people here in Tuscaloosa," Maddox said.
Maddox said the city's energy comes from partnerships like the one that brought the Edge to life. He welcomed Bailey on his third day as UA president and said he looked forward to working with him
"As the university goes, so goes our city," Maddox said. "What's really cool about this place -- it is a really cool place, isn't it? ... We're going to take students, we're going to take entrepreneurs in this community and we're going to help them go to the next level." Page said he hopes to start moving in tenants by Oct. 1 and thinks that they will be able to fill the space by the end of the year based on demand.
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