Entrepreneurship Center holds grand opening

Bitterroot Star March 27, 2010 By Michael Howell

Although the doors of the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center have been open for a while a grand opening ceremony was held last week to celebrate the new facility.

The 10,000-square-foot facility, located north of Hamilton on Old Corvallis Road, was designed by local architect Lee Kierig and sits on four acres of land donated by the Ravalli County Council on Aging. The $1.5 million building is not only the home of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, it also houses the Bitterroot Community College extension of the University of Montana and the Job Service. The REC is also home to the fledgling business Falcon Asset Management Group.

REC is more than just a landlord for entrepreneurial tenants. It also provides a range of business services to help “incubate” businesses. The objective of the REC is to provide technical assistance that will help local small businesses achieve higher productivity, thereby making them profitable earlier, while increasing sustainability.

Services provided in-house at the facility include business coaching, mentoring, advisory boards, networking opportunities, access to a variety of capital programs, timely and accurate market information and a quality space in which to conduct business and state of the art technology infrastructure.

The REC can also help connect businesses with other business services available from local consultants and state and national programs. Service provider lists are already being set up using the RCEDA’s Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) Program.

The list of those present at the grand opening reads like a Who’s Who of government economic development officials from around the region and the state.

Representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Agency John Rogers was on hand, so was Director of the Montana Department of Commerce Anthony Preite, Mike Cooney from the Montana Department of Labor, State Director of USDA Rural Development Matt Jones, and University of Montana Provost Royce Engstrom. The County Commissioners were there and so was the Mayor of Hamilton Jerry Steele. Representatives from the offices of Senator Max Baucus and Representative Denny Rehberg also spoke at the celebration. [MORE > link to Bitterroot Star article]