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� � <br /> ADOPTING A REGIONAL BUSINESS INCUBATION PROGRAM: <br /> An Incubator Without Walls <br /> In recent years, the City of Decatur has enjoyed new jobs and <br /> increased revenues produced by successful graduates of the Business Center <br /> of Decatur. In this economy, where new businesses are creating more jobs <br /> than do targer established companies, it is timely to enhance and expand the <br /> city's business-friendly image. <br /> As a development tool, business incubation invites ideas for new <br /> businesses, accelerates their growth and increases the likelihood that startups <br /> will succeed. Even though this 1980's concept originally provided help that <br /> was limited to the interior walls of a given building, it has grown to include <br /> highly effective incubators- without-walls. But in this "Information Age," <br /> budding entrepreneurs can be totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of <br /> information available to them from so many sources. The demands of <br /> determining which sources are reliable and which information can be <br /> documented can be frustrating for the heartiest of entrepreneurs. <br /> Business assistance is available in many forms in most U.S. cities <br /> including Decatur. Business incubators engage in directing entrepreneurial <br /> traffic to the right resource to satisfy each need. Without help, the delivery <br /> system of business assistance can be confusing at best. In rural areas, the <br /> path is even more thoroughly obscured. Business incubators have been <br /> coming to the rescue in cities for years, and now,with the help of the <br /> Internet, the Business Center of Decatur has the potential to help <br /> entrepreneurs in the rural area surrounding Decatur. By developing its <br /> website to include valuable guidance to other sites and resources, the <br /> Business Center can potentially turn a fragmented resource into a potent <br /> entrepreneurial environment. The very instrument which has overwhelmed <br /> so many can also be the tool that provides a solution. <br /> By adopting a regional posture, the Business Center can increase the <br /> size of its audience, market, resources and beneFts. The potential for helping <br /> greater numbers of communities and entrepreneurs increases with each <br /> rural area included. The benefits provided to rural communities by <br /> expanding the Center's Internet services would be balanced by the <br /> positioning of Decatur as "user friendly" to business development. <br />