Where Small Business Blossoms

GMU Center Holds Entrepreneurs' Hands and Puts Feet to Fire

For entrepreneur Miles Friedman, leaving the corporate world to open a business five years ago was like sky diving for the first time.

He was heading into a world of uncertainty, he said, after spending 27 years on solid ground.

"I had been with an established organization and felt very secure," the 58-year-old said. "But when I walked out that door to start a business, it was like jumping out of a plane. You are just free falling, and it is a scary experience."

But Friedman found a parachute in the business incubator and accelerator program at the Mason Enterprise Center at Prince William.

"This absolutely helped me," said Friedman, who moved his economic and business development consulting firm Miles Friedman and Partners into the Mason facility two years ago. "Mason is committed to making your business a success. They hold your feet to the fire and don't just provide a place to work."

The Mason Enterprise Center, which is part of George Mason University's School of Public Policy, opened in the county three years ago. University officials, however, are just beginning to market the incubator and accelerator program, which provides the tools, space and counseling that businesses need to grow and stand on their own.

"We want to let people know you don't have to work out of your basement," said Jim DiModica, an adviser at the facility and a client in the accelerator program. "Other opportunities are available."

The incubator program in Prince William is the fourth that university officials have started, said Keith Segerson, director of the 38 Mason Enterprise Centers in Virginia and assistant dean at the School of Public Policy. Segerson said Prince William seemed like an ideal location for another program because there is a "strong economic development push" in the region but not much help for small businesses. The other incubator programs are in Springfield and Fairfax County.

"There are entities that provide office suites for small businesses, but this takes it to another level," Segerson said. "Here, we surround them with professional consulting and the other services they need to succeed."

The incubator and accelerator program is open to entrepreneurs who have a solid business plan and cash flow, have been operating from home for a few years and are ready for their business to take the next step, Segerson said. Businesses must fill out an application and be reviewed by a board before being accepted.

"This is not the place you come if you wake up in the morning and say, 'I'm tired of driving to work; I want to start a business,' " said Patricia Peacock, director of the Mason Enterprise Center at Prince William. "We want people who are invested in this. This is a very powerful partnership that helps put viable businesses in the community."

The program is operated out of Bull Run Hall on the university's Prince William Campus. Nine of the center's roughly 30 office spaces are filled, Peacock said, and participants pay a monthly rent of $550 to $1,200. They receive office space, all technical equipment -- such as computers, phones and copiers -- and access to a conference room and classroom space.