The
Sault Ste. Marie SmartZone is open and ready to help entrepreneurs achieve their dream of launching a new business. The glistening new facility is located within view of airplanes going in and out of the municipal airport, a fitting analogy for the potential new businesses inside who are trying to take flight in this tough business and economic climate.
Entrepreneurs will have plenty of help getting off the ground. Sault Ste. Marie Advanced Resources and Technology, Inc. (SSMart) operates the Soo's SmartZone as a collaborative partnership with the city of Sault Ste. Marie and its economic development corporation,
Lake Superior State University, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Centers.
There's a multitude of services entrepreneurs can tap into once they get their foot inside the door, including LSSU's product development center, which provides invaluable technical and engineering equipment and software that would otherwise be unaffordable for new start-ups. Other resources for budding entrepreneurs include help with formulating a business plan, marketing assistance, office space, website development and product prototyping.
Governor Rick Snyder found time after a swing through the U.P., which included a visit to the U.P. State Fair, to stop by for the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the SmartZone, held on August 16.
"To be an entrepreneur is really hard," said Snyder, speaking from the podium in front of the SmartZone. "You need the support, that's what this place can do for you." Snyder added he was part of the original legislative group that launched the SmartZone concept back in the 90's.
After several area dignitaries and the folks who worked to get the SmartZone off the ground crowded in for a photo op beside the governor, area business leaders met for a roundtable discussion. The group took the opportunity to discuss with Snyder the pressing issues of the day for small businesses, including health care reform and foreign competition; they also talked about how they can collaborate with the new SmartZone to utilize local talent for apprenticeship programs.
At the forefront of everyone's mind is how to use the SmartZone to capture and keep local talented people, many of whom graduate from LSSU and then have to leave the area for work.
"We're hoping to try to capture some of that (talent) by building a business that will keep them here," says Kristen Claus, executive director of the
Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation. Mayor Tony Bosbous echoed that sentiment, telling the assembled group at the ribbon cutting he hopes the SmartZone will help provide opportunities for his children and grandchildren to stay in the area.
The SmartZone is open to virtually anyone who is considering starting up a business. Although the SmartZone is highly subsidized, hopeful entrepreneurs still need to pay a small monthly service charge for the facility and services, which, according to Claus, keeps everyone vested in the program.
Once in the door, entrepreneurs generally have about six months to try out their new ideas and receive the many services that are being offered, which include help with a business plan, market research and acquiring funding sources for things like patents and other start up costs. The SmartZone will be working closely with LSSU to help entrepreneurs.
"If you don't put a timeline on things, people can get settled and comfortable," says Claus of the six month lease.
When the business is ready to launch it can be moved into the Soo Industrial Incubator building where the actual manufacturing can begin. From there the EDC can help with a permanent location in one of the city's two industrial parks, as well as help to arrange access to state and federal labor training programs, the Sault Foreign Trade Zone and various financing and infrastructure programs. Claus says a new start-up may also opt to outsource work to a contractor.
The new facility has five offices and four cubicles, so there is space for several potential start-ups at one time. Two start-ups are currently taking advantage of the program, a state-of-the-art nursing training program that uses mannequins to simulate real life medical emergencies, and a start-up called Senopra, which is working on developing a cyber security product in addition to the typical services offered by a security firm, e.g., home security products and event and building security.
The Sault Ste. Marie Smartzone is one of only two such facilities in the state. It was initially funded with a $1.3 million grant and has been several years in the making. Hopefully, it will pay off by providing more jobs and opportunities for the people of this great peninsula.
Neil Moran is a copywriter living in Sault Ste. Marie.
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