PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Economic Development Council may take the reins of the financially strapped Clallam Business Incubator in hopes of keeping the organization afloat while its board members seek new funding.
The boards of each organization will decide later this month whether the EDC will manage the day-to-day operations of the Incubator, which is at 905 W. Ninth St., in Port Angeles, without compensation for 2010, said Linda Rotmark, EDC executive director.
The EDC will meet Dec. 17, while the Incubator board will meet Dec. 21.
The EDC began taking over some of those tasks, such as paying bills, last Wednesday, Rotmark said.
“We will act as a liaison between the daily activities and the tenants and the board,” she said.
Those tasks were previously handled by Jim Haguewood through his company, the ONE Group.
Haguewood and the Incubator board agreed in late September to dissolve his contract because the organization could no longer afford to pay his $5,000-per-month salary.
The Incubator formed about three years ago and provides discounted rental space and professional support to new businesses, among other services.
Since it opened, the Incubator has helped 16 aspiring entrepreneurs to develop business plans and provided an environment for them to grow, Haguewood said.
Three have graduated from the program — The Remediators, Capacity Provisioning Inc. and TEFnET — are all going strong.
Needed for development
Rotmark said the EDC is willing to manage the Incubator without compensation because it is one of the “tools in the tool box” needed for economic development.
It ran into financial trouble last summer when it depleted a $300,000 Northwest Area Foundation grant that it was using to pay the debt for the construction of its space at the Lincoln Center and to fill the gap between its revenue and operating expenses.
The city, which is decreasing its contribution from $85,000 to $45,000 in 2010, is its only other funding source.
The Incubator board members, along with city, Clallam County, Peninsula College and EDC officials, have been working since the fall to find other means of balancing the books.
They are looking for private backers but are also discussing how they can all pitch in to cover the Incubator’s expenses.
Rotmark said 95 percent of all business incubators are subsidized for their entire existence.
Plan within six months
She said the goal is to have a new funding plan in place within six months.
That would allow the city and other public entities that decide to contribute to fit the cost in their 2011 budgets, Rotmark said.
“The reality is we want to have a funding plan in place by July,” she said, “so board members can go out and talk to possible funders.”
The Incubator’s $49,000 annual debt payment for construction of its Lincoln Center location is its main financial hurdle, board Chairwoman and City Council member Karen Rogers has said.
She couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday.
For more information about the Incubator, phone the EDC at 360-457-7793.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
