PORT ANGELES — The board members of the Clallam Business Incubator will discuss Monday whether to dissolve the financially troubled organization or restructure it.
The Incubator, located in the Lincoln Center, 905 W. Ninth St., Port Angeles, provides office space and professional support to new businesses, among other services.
The board will meet at 3 p.m. in the Incubator offices at the Lincoln Center.
The Incubator has been in a transition period since late September after the previous board concluded that the organization could not continue to make $49,000 annual loan payments to the county while maintaining its business-support services.
That board dissolved in November and several members were replaced with representatives from the city of Port Angeles, Port of Port Angeles and Clallam County government.
The Clallam County Economic Development Council has been the caretaker of the Incubator free of charge since December.
It replaced the ONE Group after the former board could no longer pay for its service.
Define role
Port Angeles City Manager Kent Myers, who sits on the board, said that if board members decide to keep the Incubator alive, they will discuss what industries to which it should cater.
Options include marine services, composites, ecological restoration, green construction, alternative energy and agriculture, food and tourism.
“It’s something that we think we can possibly be more successful . . . if we have a more focused approach, rather than trying to get all kinds of businesses,” he said.
If the Incubator dissolves, the county will take it to bankruptcy court to resolve the 20-year, $750,000 loan, board member and county Administrator Jim Jones, has said.
Commerce loan
The county took the loan, with a 1 percent interest, in 2004 from the state Department of Commerce and then made the same arrangement with the Incubator since the organization wasn’t eligible for it.
The Incubator made its first payment last year. Previously, it was only required to pay interest, as was the county.
In December, Jones said he didn’t know if he would have to step down from the board before that happens to avoid a conflict of interest.
The Incubator was about $2,500 per month in the red in 2009, without the cost of an executive director or the loan payment included.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
