More News

When they started their business, a lack of capital was a worry for partners Mary Rogers and Rosemary Hartnett.

The pair planned to start an AbraKadoodle franchise -- a community center, school and day care program for children ages 2 to 12 -- but a lack of money would have delayed their Reston franchise from opening.

"We were looking to launch the business," Rogers said. "We didn't have a lot of capital to do this."

So, in 2002, she and Hartnett applied to INC.spire, a business incubator program run by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce whose mission is to help new businesses get started.

Clients in the program pay a below-market rent for office space at the chamber and fees for advice and business counseling, said INC.spire Executive Director Bruce Mancinelli. Along with the fees the program is sponsored by chamber members and has received grants of roughly $25,000 each of the last three fiscal years from Fairfax County.

It receives about 20 to 50 inquiries a month, Mancinelli said. Candidates apply for spots and are selected by INC.spire's Board of Directors.

Now in its 10th year, INC.spire has helped to foster 49 companies, helping to attract $45 million in business to the area, adding more than 450 local jobs and filling 80,000 square feet of office space, according to the chamber.

"It gave us some great office space, a conference room ... but what it really did was bring together some great professionals with experience, who could give advice," Rogers said.

Providing these services at low costs to beginning businesses helps ensure success for the incubator and business startups, Mancinelli said.

"There are three things the incubator provides that are absolutely critical to a beginning company," he said. These include like-minded coaching from similar businesses, fiscal services and facilities and mentorship, he said.

Under the incubator program, startups are offered legal, marketing and financial advice for a fee. Additionally, the Reston chamber helps clients to network and collaborate with other businesses.

For AbraKadoodle, these services expedited the launch of their Reston franchise on Robert Fulton Drive. The franchise is one of 60 in the nation.

"We were with it for almost a year," Rogers said of the incubator. "We were one of their unusual groups, one of the few that weren't tech-based. ... The incubator program really helped us accelerate our startup phase. If we would have taken the more traditional route, it would have been more costly."

Of the 49 businesses the incubator helped to launch in the last decade, 47 remain in business or have sold for profit. Nationally, 87 percent of businesses that use incubator programs are operating after five years, according to the National Incubation Association. The five-year success rate among businesses that do not use the program is about 20 percent.

The Reston chamber and business community are proud of the program, chamber President Mark Ingrao said.

"It shows the Reston business community that we are supportive and looking to grow," he said.

INC.spire currently has three clients, including Dimensional Concepts, a business intelligence company that assists health care services find ways to cut costs. The business has been working with the incubator for two and a half years.

"It's been excellent," said its founder, Sanjeet Harpalani. "We've enjoyed all the guidance that the incubator has provided us," His business works out of the incubator offices for a lower rent than he would pay in commercial spaces in Reston, sharing technology and advice with other information technology firms in the program, he said.

Along with its 10-year anniversary, INC.spire is celebrating recognition from the state legislature for helping promote local business growth.

"The kind of startups and what they are looking for have changed," Mancinelli said. "Ten years ago, space, facilities was more important than services [such as counseling]."

With so many technology-based businesses, advice is a leading need, he said.

"That's the real value we deliver."