Enhancing entrepreneurship
Charlotte Business Journal - by Adam O’Daniel Staff writer
The new president of the Ben Craig Center has huge ambitions for growing small businesses in Charlotte.
Paul Wetenhall was hired to rejuvenate the 22-year-old Ben Craig Center, a small-business incubator affiliated with UNC Charlotte. Wetenhall, founder of two software companies, says he wants to transform research and ideas into profitable businesses. He’s working on a long-range plan that will be revealed in early 2009 on how the center can better serve UNC Charlotte and the region.
There are also preliminary plans to move the center in coming years from its facility on Mallard Creek Road to a site on campus.
Wetenhall arrived in Charlotte in June, leaving a similar position at High Tech Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He replaces Mark Schaffner, president since 1998, who resigned to start his own small-business consulting firm.
Between settling into his new office and making an offer on a house in Davidson, Wetenhall recently talked with the Charlotte Business Journal about his agenda for the center. Following are edited excerpts.
How will you strengthen Ben Craig Center’s relationship with UNC Charlotte?
What we can do here in Charlotte, as UNCC becomes a research campus, is take our inventions and turn them into companies. We want to work with the Charlotte Research Institute to identify technical products or patents in its portfolios that will make profitable businesses. Second, we want to identify ideas coming out of the university and turn them into companies.
How do you rate Charlotte’s climate for entrepreneurs?
Charlotte has practiced the entrepreneurial spirit by becoming a banking leader. The thing that always struck me about Charlotte when I was an outsider was the collaborative, can-do, positive business attitude with players like Ed Crutchfield and Hugh McColl. Now that I’m here, I see all of that is true.
But there are dangers when you become too concentrated. Charlotte is a little skewed to big business. There’s not a highly organized entrepreneurial infrastructure. What we’re hoping to do is collaborate with other organizations such as Central Piedmont Community College and the BIG Council to make sure we have a support structure for entrepreneurs.
Name something that would improve the climate.
There’s not a strong venture capital or angel investor network. And there’s a lack of entrepreneurial management. We need to unlock more equity capital and develop more entrepreneurial management.
What impact has the sluggish economy had on entrepreneurs?
Because the economy has slowed, it’s easier for early-stage companies to find good people, as many Americans are changing jobs. (But) the fact that the market is down means it’s harder to borrow, which is bad for high-risk, early-stage companies.
Also, wealthy individuals are feeling less wealthy and are more hesitant to invest in a startup. But there is a subsector of people who are looking at it as an opportunity. They’re not getting the 15% they expect out of the market and are looking to invest in early-stage companies.
Name one of the challenges facing the Ben Craig Center.
The challenge you always have is weighing the things you want to do and the things you can afford to do. UNCC has always been very generous with us, and we’ve had some very good private sponsors. Those sponsorships today are below past levels. Our challenge will be finding financial resources.
What one thing should entrepreneurs know about the Ben Craig Center?
Ben Craig staff and mentors give them honest feedback to help them be successful. Sometimes friends and family are too supportive, and don’t say, “Your idea is crazy. You should shift it in another direction.” We’re very good at helping entrepreneurs evaluate whether or not they have a significant and valuable business idea.
aodaniel@bizjournals.com
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