How this headline may connect to industries in Colorado. Technical scores are below — click any ? for what a metric means.
GJ Business Incubator celebrates 40 years of supporting small businesses.After Black Sunday in 1982 saw Exxon’s exit from western Colorado and an ensuing economic collapse, the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center (BIC) was founded as a response to bolster small businesses.The earliest beneficiary was Laura Bradford, whose business, ProSafe Products, launched in September 1987.The incubator helped her find stable ground to support her family as her business grew — and she became so successful that she would go on to become a representative for District 55 in the Colorado House.Bradford, a single mother with two young daughters, called the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce looking for any help.She was pointed toward the new incubator and she immediately reached out.The incubator embraced her, seeking an impetus and momentum.Since then, she’s seen how the incubator can impact families like hers and others.“It’s overwhelming to look back and think, ‘What if I didn’t make it?What would happen to these families and mine?’ ” Bradford asked as she teared up.“My three children have gone on to be extremely successful....The example I laid for my kids stuck.It landed.I was lucky.” This year marks the BIC’s 40th anniversary.As things stand, it has supported nearly 35% of the 2,286 Mesa County businesses with more than one employee, and 86% of them remain in business after five years.Over four decades, the BIC has contributed to the creation of more than 14,500 jobs.The Grand Junction BIC is the oldest business incubator in the state that is still operating — and thriving.“Small businesses typically fail pretty early — usually in the first three years — and a lot of it’s due to lack of expertise.They know how to do their business, but they don’t know how to do all these other things that are associated with business,” said Barbara Creasman, who wrote the grants that originally supported the BIC in the mid-1980s.“Businesses needed help with technical assistance.While all of them need similar things, it really needs to be tailored to that business.To do that, having the kind of assistance that the incubator would do saves a ton of time and money and draw up many more resources than small businesses with one or two people at the head can do while running their business.” The BIC is hosting a variety of events this year to celebrate 40 years, including an anniversary kick-off celebration open to the community at 4 p.m.on Thursday, June 4, at Ramblebine Brewing Company.16, the actual anniversary of the BIC’s launch, the incubator plans to host its first-ever Outstanding Entrepreneur Awards, recognizing exceptional entrepreneurs whose impacts exemplify the spirit of entrepreneurship.Awards will include the Visionary Leadership Award, the Innovation Award and several Community Impact and Legacy Awards.“It was a vision of hope, a vision of success, a vision of wanting our community to make it that was the spark for the incubator,” said BIC CEO Dalida Sassoon Bollig.“We moved our community away from a very shaky time to what we believe is a diversified, resilient and thriving economy.” Recognizing the center’s origins are crucial to understanding the role the incubator currently plays, Bollig said.“If you lose your innovation and edge, you’re going to go through another cycle of hardship,” she said.The BIC’s anniversary has drawn congratulations from prominent political figures in Colorado.Jared Polis wrote to Bollig to congratulate the center on 40 years in operation, calling its 40th anniversary “especially significant for our state”: “All who come together to celebrate this milestone will have the chance to commemorate BIC’s founders and alumni, celebrate the entrepreneurs who have built businesses through the company’s programs, and even taste a first-of-its-kind BIC Beer, brewed in partnership with Ramblebine Brewing Company.Congratulations to the Business Incubator Center’s 40 years of operation, and thank you for your contributions to the State of Colorado.I wish you great success with your future endeavors.” Additionally, U.S.Michael Bennet wrote to Bollig: “Your steadfast commitment to strengthening and supporting rural communities is honorable.I am especially impressed by your support in creating 15,000 jobs throughout the Western Slope, a benefit not only to individuals but to the region as a whole.By providing business mentorship, access to capital and industry-specific tools, you have supported local economies at great credit to Colorado and the nation.”