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About SMDC

Small Business and Industry Center (SBIC)

SMDC owns a business incubator facility which opened in 1985 with 17,000 square feet of available rental space. The facility provides new and expanding small businesses with attractive per square foot costs and shared services. Resident small business clients have access to small business counseling and other university and community college based technical assistance. The low rent, shared support services, and extensive technical assistance provide new businesses with good start and reduce the likelihood of business failure. A business owner may use the facility for at two years before the business is expected to graduate and move to a permanent location. Additional time in the incubator may be granted if the business is moving from research and development to commercialization, is in a growth stage, or is actively seeking permanent space.

An added benefit is the location of the facility in the Waynesville Industrial Park and the adjacent Haywood Community College Regional High Technology Center. This access is very important to those businesses in need of research and technology related programs. A list of current business incubator clients follows below.

USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG)

In 1998, with assistance from USDA Rural Economic Development Administration, a revolving loan fund was established to provide financial assistance to business incubator clients in need of small loans to purchase equipment or fund contracts. It may be used outside the business incubator in limited basis where the program can show a significant gain in new job creation activity. Business incubator clients must have been in the business incubator program for at least six months, be current on rent, have a good credit rating, and provide a down payment and collateral. Loans may have a term of up to three years.

Current Tenants

	ALP Systems, Inc
	Austin Medical, Inc
	Shadow Development Technologies Shadow Development Technologies, LLC, owned by undergraduate WCU students, develops and designs customer websites and applications
	St. Andrews Square
	Western Economic Development Organization

Smoky Mountain Development Corporation: Fact Sheet

Smoky Mountain Development Corporation is a 501(c) 4 non profit corporation whose mission is to participate in economic programs that achieve measurable results in job creation and capital formation.

To achieve this mission, SMDC:

1. Operates a Small Business and Industry Center incubator facility in Haywood County
2. Focuses on the 10 western-most North Carolina counties as a Certified Development Company offering the Small Business Administration 504 Loan program. The focus counties are Clay, Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Swain, and Transylvania, and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

Small Business and Industry Center

Incubator

• 17,000 square foot small business incubator facility with 10 units ranging from 200 square feet to 1,800 square feet in size.
• Low rent ($3 to $4 square foot) for start-up businesses for up to two years.
• Shared services (copy and fax machines, lounge, and restroom facilities).
• Extensive small business counseling and technical assistance provided to incubator clients by Haywood Community College's Small Business Center, WCU's Small Business and Technology Development Center, and Mountain Biz Works.

Background

• First state/county funded incubator in the State of North Carolina
• Initially funded in 1985
  • $200,000 - grant from the State of North Carolina through NC TDA
  • $150,000 - Haywood County (matching funds)
  • $58,000 - Waynesville Industrial Park (land)
  • $95,825 - Additional Grants from the Economic Development Association (EDA) and the Appalachian Regional Commision (ARC)
• Administration of the incubator funded by Western Carolina University until February 2004. At that time the incubator became self-supporting.

Certified Development Company

SBA 504 Loan Program

• Partner with banks to provide financing for real estate and equipment
• Down payment as low as 10% with terms as long as 20 years
• SBA provides 30% to 40% of total project costs, banks provide 50%
• Typical project range of $300,000 to $5 million

Background

• Participated in over $60,000,000 of business financing projects since 1987 in WNC, with SMDC providing over $21,000,000 in SBA direct loans resulting in over 600 jobs created or retained.
• Current loan portfolio of over $10,000,000

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