Grant: New SBDC incubator will be built in small bites

The groundbreaking Access Accelerator/Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) business incubator, which will be housed in the old Phil’s Food Services complex on Gladstone Road, will take “millions” to renovate, the SBDC’s Executive Director Davinia Grant told Guardian Business yesterday, explaining that the project will happen in small bites.

According to Grant, the SBDC could move its offices from the Gladstone Road Freight Terminal into a part of the complex that is currently habitable, in about three months.

Grand said this is an exciting venture for the SBDC, adding that the new location will bring “new energy” to the Access Accelerator’s offerings.

“The bigger building, that’s going to be like a business mall,” said Grant.

“Our hope with that is to have all of the players who have interests in small business development to at least have a presence there. So, we’re hoping we could have a representative from all of the relevant agencies that deal with small businesses represented, from the financial institutions that have a portfolio specifically for small businesses and some of the non-governmental organizations that support small businesses. And then we want to house a number of the small businesses themselves in that location.” 

Grant explained that the new SBDC complex will include a regular warehouse for its clients to store their goods when their businesses scale up and a refrigerated storage unit for those clients who need it.

“You have a lot of home businesses that can’t take advantage of economies of scale because they can’t put boxes and boxes of supplies in their house,” she said.

“So now you can still have a home business and store your supplies and products in the warehouse and only come and access it as you need to, so we’re looking forward to that.” 

On the outside of the complex, the Tin Ferl Pop-Up Park will have its food truck setup. It has already begun its move from its current location at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts.

Grant said there will also be space for manufacturing businesses that will be solarized “so that Bahamians who want to do manufacturing can use efficient energy to do so and then it changes their cost structure”.

While the project has quite a way to go in order to bring the entire vision to fruition, Grant said the SBDC will “bite the elephant piece by piece”.

She said the SBDC’s current budget will get the move started, while it awaits whatever funding will be available to it in the next budget cycle.

According to Grant, there will be some rent charged to clients for use of the property, but she explained that the rate will be a concessionary one.

She added that private sector entities that are not SBDC clients will also be invited to rent space, but at market rates.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/grant-new-sbdc-incubator-will-be-built-in-small-bites/