WHAT IS SPICE?
Corning, New Straitsville, and Shawnee, former railroading and coal mining boom communities in the Little Cities of Black Diamonds region, are getting an economic boost from SPICE, Southern Perry Incubation Center for Entrepreneurs. This organization, formed by local citizens and community development groups to address the declining economic conditions of the area, offers business assistance services to potential and established businesses interested in starting or expanding their business in southern Perry County. SPICE provides business counseling, referrals, guidance, training, loans and limited business space to individuals or groups. Central office support systems with computer, phone, copier, fax are available to its clients. Funded by the Ohio Department of Development, SPICE has facilitated its Microenterprise Loan and Technical Assistance Program in Perry County since 2005.
The current project of this industrious group is a business center in New Straitsville, the Southern Perry Business Center (SPBC).This Main Street center is a hub of activity as workers prepare, assemble and bulk mail brochures, letters, posters and other promotional materials for customers throughout the region; in another walled off area of the center, two local citizens are taking their first computer lesson and a client is learning Ebay sales techniques.
SPICE is collaborating with the Corning Monroe Civic Center and the Perry
County Community Improvement Corporation to conduct a survey to determine
the feasibility of developing a food preparation center at the Civic Center.
If you like to cook or have a favorite family recipe you would like to
develop into a commercial product give us a call at 394-2200.
The Southern Perry Business Center (SPBC) is a work in progress. Co-housed
with SPICE in a large office space in the Masonic Building common SPBC
is equipped with eight work stations complete with computers, phones and
satellite internet service, training center and central copying and fax
services. The center’s goal is to attract enough businesses and
telework individuals to become a self sustaining entity and provide employment
for at least four local citizens. For further information contact 740-394-2200.
Background
SPICE, Southern Perry Incubation Center for Entrepreneurs, was formed under the sponsorship of the Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. In February, 1999, a group of southern Perry County residents applied for participation in the Kellogg Managing Information with Rural America (MIRA) community development project in southeastern Ohio. During the project, citizen teams assessed their communities and developed an action plan for addressing major identified needs. The southern Perry County team identified the declining economic conditions and lack of adequate jobs in their rural communities as primary concerns of its citizens and its township and village governments.
The region’s declining economic conditions relate to its location
and history. Southern Perry County is located in the foothills of the
Appalachian Mountains. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s,
rich resources of coal, oil, iron and clay provided a steady income for
inhabitants. The eventual depletion of these natural resources led to
the abandonment of the ore producing mines and the loss of the railways
that moved the ores to the country s factories and shipping ports.
The loss of mining and railroad jobs and the continuing relocation of
workers left southern Perry County with today’s poor economy, abandoned
buildings and dwindling population. Most workers who live in the area
travel thirty to eighty miles to their employment, leaving little time
to enjoy and participate in community and family activities. The majority
of those who choose to remain must be content with minimum wage jobs.
This creates a Working Poor society, one that is unable to properly house
and tend to the health needs of its children or support its community
s physical, educational or social infrastructure.
The southern Perry County Kellogg MIRA team completed the program’s
requirements and received a $15,000 grant to establish a business incubation
center in the small village of Corning. A business incubator model was
chosen as a method for addressing the declining economic conditions because
it offered a means of attracting and assisting a number of business entrepreneurs
with business startup ideas and struggling established businesses. The
team formed and named its organization SPICE, Southern Perry Incubation
Center for Entrepreneurs, in May, 2000 and received 501c3 tax exempt status
in March, 2002. SPICE follows its mission of improving and revitalizing
the economy of the distressed communities of the Appalachian Ohio area
of southern Perry County by conducting and promoting business development
activities that enable individuals to gain the skills, expertise and resources
needed to start, participate in, and operate businesses that sustain a
reasonable living. SPICE has been pursuing this mission for the past six
years by providing business development workshops, consultation services
for new and established businesses and financial assistance.
Organizational Structure
SPICE is governed by a five to nine member volunteer Board of Trustees which meets quarterly to assess the progress of the organization and develop plans to further the organization’s mission.
The Board’s executive structure consists of a president, vice-president,
secretary and treasurer. An executive director, program coordinator and
special projects administrator form the SPICE staff. Past trustees serve
as associate members.
Ohio University’s Small Business Development Center, Sunday Creek
Associates, a local community development organization, the Holland
Center, ACEnet, a southeastern Ohio business
incubator, Appalachian
Regional Entrepreneurial Initiative (AREI), Hocking
College, the Foundation
for Appalachian Ohio, Southern
Local Schools, the Governor’s
Office of Appalachia, Perry County
Job and Family Services and the Ohio
Community Computer Network (OCCN) provide collaborative expertise,
encouragement and grant funding to the SPICE organization.
1) To create economic growth in Perry County by supporting entrepreneurial development activities in communites that will:
a) Provide job opportunities that will sustain a reasonable living
b) Promote the arts
c) Value historic preservation
d) Promote low-impact tourism that is environmentally friendly
2) Offer assistance to "start-up" businesses in the areas of market research, developing business plans, setting up essential bookkeeping practices as related to their particular business, indentify and provide financial resources.
3) Interface with local governments and assist in any way possible in the recruitment of new businesses.
4) Celebrate the rich heritage of the Southern Perry County communities
while making plans for a community that will sustain future generations.
VISION
To see, in the once bustling towns of Southern Perry County, the development of small businesses or home-based businesses that will enable young people and other wage earning citizens to stay in the community in which they were raised, and not seek employment elsewhere.
"An incubation program's main goal is to produce successful graduates--businesses that are financially viable and freestanding when they leave the incubator, usually in two to three years."
--The businesses being incubated today are at the forefront of developing new and innovative technologies--creating products and services that improve the quality of our lives--on a small scale today, and on a much grander scale tomorrow.
--Business incubation has grown markedly--from 12 North American programs in 1980 to nearly 600 in 1998." From the National Business Incubation Association. For more information on Business Incubators click here.
