Geren named Mel Bedwell Small Businessperson of the Year

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (May 5, 2008)—Don Geren, director of the Cleveland/Bradley Business Incubator, is the 2008 Mel Bedwell Small Business Person of the Year. The Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce recognized his contributions to small businesses at their Business Development Month kickoff luncheon today.

Geren is the 10^th individual to receive the Small Business Person of the Year award since its renaming to honor the contributions of the late Mel Bedwell and 15^th to receive the award since this award program began. Bedwell was one of the most loyal and supportive members of the Small Business Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors Business Development Month.

Staying power, growth in number of employees, increase in sales or unit volume, innovativeness of product or services offered, response to adversity, and evidence of contribution by the nominee to aid community-oriented projects form the basis for this award.

"He exemplifies every virtue of a leader, an innovator and an uncompromising steward of our community," said Hurley Buff, facility manager for the Cleveland/Bradley Business Incubator, in nominating Geren for the award. "This gentleman has devoted decades of his life to nurturing the economic growth of this community and the region. It is no exaggeration to say that during the last 15 years, he has forever changed how small business ‘gets off the ground' in Bradley and surrounding counties."

Geren first proposed the idea of a business incubator to the Chamber's Small Business Committee, then chaired by Mel Bedwell, in 1993. The idea was to create a place that would shelter inexperienced entrepreneurs and their fledgling businesses until they were strong enough to compete in the community.

"Don pointed out that studies showed that over 80 percent of new businesses failed within the first few years because of inadequate planning," recalls Ken Jones, managing principal of LPL Financial Services. Jones also served with Geren on the Chamber's Small Business Committee in the 1990s when Bedwell chaired the committee and then chaired the incubator Board of Directors till 2006.

 "Without reservation, I would have to say that the success of the incubator would have almost been impossible were it not for the patient leadership and expertise shown by Don," Jones said.

At the time of the initial proposal, only 462 business incubators existed in the United States, and only three full-service incubators were operating in Tennessee. His proposal began a journey that overtook the next decade of Geren's life, with obstacles that sometimes seemed insurmountable.

"Don spent countless hours and incurred some challenging health issues during the 10 years or so of this project," Jones recalled. "But he always kept the committee heading in the right direction and was an excellent facilitator in being able to work through challenges."

Raising funds for a feasibility study to determine Bradley County's "economic fitness" to support a full-service incubator was the first obstacle. Selecting a suitable site followed soon after, with funding remaining an ever-present challenge.

The Vocational Building on the Cleveland State Community College campus, which had become a "white elephant" for the college to maintain, became the most suitable location. Although local leaders proposed that the building become a trade and convention center, Geren persuaded County Commissioners that a business incubator would better serve the community. Even with their blessing, Geren still had to convince the Tennessee Board of Regents to approve a lease for the building, as well as those local leaders who continued to resist the idea of the college leasing its building to another entity.

The first request made by the Incubator Committee for use of the building was flatly denied based on an insistence that the college would incur expenses to renovate the building, lose instructional and administrative office space and that the operating cost had been underestimated. Still Geren persisted, demonstrating to the Tennessee Board of Regents and State Finance Committee that leasing the building for use as a business incubator would create on-the-job training opportunities for CSCC students in a variety of disciplines.

He also showed that the agreement would save the college tens of thousands of dollars each year by relieving itself of the operating and maintenance costs of the building. Finally, he proved that removing the building's square footage from Cleveland State's total footage would allow the college to move forward on future expansions.

In actuality, Geren and the incubator committee raised nearly $1 million in grant funds to complete the needed renovations, although securing grants from Tennessee Valley Authority, Southeastern Development District, and city and county governments all proved to have their own set of stumbling blocks. Geren, however, met those and other roadblocks "head on and tirelessly [worked] toward resolution."

"Adversity can be a great teacher," Buff said. "Don struggled with each obstacle with steadfast determination, and through his perseverance and the help of friends and colleagues, each challenge to the project's success was met and resolved. . . . [Today] Don is passing along the knowledge he has gained from his struggles with an up-and-coming generation of entrepreneurs."

Despite its opening in July 2000 without a phone system, a single computer or furniture, the Business Incubator has enjoyed success beyond all original predictions. When the doors opened, 11 new businesses occupied 11 of its 28 suites and created 16 new jobs. By February 2001, the incubator was at full capacity. Currently, 25 businesses rent the 29 available spaces, creating 132 jobs.

Demand for manufacturing space remains high, with 20 names on a waiting list for manufacturing bay spaces. Twenty-three names are on the waiting list for office space. Several businesses already residing in the incubator would like to upgrade their accommodations by moving to larger quarters.

Since its opening, the Business Incubator has served more than 70 new businesses and created over 200 full- and part-time jobs.

"His leadership, planning and management have helped those businesses be successful," Teresa Taylor, senior project manager, said. "Don's business mentoring skills make him a tremendous asset to the community. The Business Incubator is one of the best performing and best managed facilities in the Tennessee Valley region."

Referring to the man who has owned and operated a variety of successful businesses throughout his life, Taylor continued, "As part of his role with the incubator, Don is an active member of the TVA Business Incubation Network. He provides information and insight on the industry and policies that enable us to better serve small businesses across the region. His knowledge of the industry and his value of entrepreneurship have made him a unique asset to the field of business incubation."

Jones agrees. "He has provided a high level of guidance, perseverance, leadership and inspiration to many new business owners. They, their employees and this community have benefited tremendously from Don's efforts on behalf of small business."

Some incubator facilities are referred to as "innovation centers," which is no less an apt description of the Cleveland/Bradley Business Incubator whose success is defined in part by the innovativeness of its director. From the outset, Geren and the Incubator Board set aside funds from their construction budget to install a state-of-the-art digital telephone system. Although the system was designed for one large company rather than 28 small businesses, Geren worked with then BellSouth to adapt the system to meet the needs of each individual business.

He also arranged for individual billing of long distance calls through a system of calling codes, the first time this particular telephone system had been used in such an application in the area served by BellSouth networking out of Nashville. The system allows new businesses the use of sophisticated telephony technology ordinarily out of reach for most startups.

The Business Incubator also needed a way to monitor electricity used in each manufacturing bay, as well as in the common areas. Pulling on the principle used at local boat docks to meter electricity usage separately, Geren called upon Cleveland Utilities and Tennessee Valley Authority engineers to design a similar system for the Incubator.

The system, in place by the time the first tenants arrived, accurately measures kilowatt usage in each bay and measures usage in the common areas and office space. Through a creative relationship with Cleveland State, the Business Incubator reimburses the college for power usage to the penny. Geren devised a similar arrangement for use of water, sewer and natural gas, thereby ensuring that the incubator is never a burden on Cleveland State.

"This fulfills Don's blueprint for a self-sustaining incubation program with a ‘custom-fit' for each new tenant," Buff explained.

With growth inhibited by the physical limitations of square footage, plans are now underway to remodel the current facility to find more leasable space and to add another facility on the opposite end of the Cleveland State campus.

"Although Don has suffered many setbacks with his health, some serious enough to make many a man retreat into retirement, he is still at the helm of the Business Incubator, making himself and his 40 years of business experience available to the 26 businesses that currently reside in the Business Center," Buff pointed out. "He is also overseeing the creation of the additional facility to ease the numbers on the ever-burgeoning waiting lists."

Geren's has contributed to many civic organizations and has donated time and money to several "favorite" charities. He is a die-hard supporter of Habitat for Humanity and has supported United Way, Goodwill and several local churches.

Geren strongly believes education is of great value to anyone at any age. He holds a bachelor's degree from Tennessee Wesleyan College and master's degree from The University of Tennessee. The Don M. Geren Business Incubator Scholarship was endowed through the Cleveland State Community College Foundation to honor his role in the incubator's establishment and his commitment to lifelong learning.

"The Business Incubator will probably be helping new businesses and creating jobs long after we are all gone," Buff concluded. "But setting that aside, I have never personally known anyone with more civic pride or anyone more generous with their resources than Don Geren. . . . I can think of no one any more deserving of this prestigious award."

            Previous winners of the Small Business Person of the Year are Steve Robinson, Cleveland Plywood; Lynn Jones, Lynn Jones Enterprises; Ross Tarver, Tarver Distributing Co. Inc.; Loye Hamilton, Coldwell Banker, Hamilton & Associates; Kenneth Higgins, Santek Environmental Inc.; Kay Jenkins Cowan, Jenkins Restaurant & Deli, Dan Cooke, Cooke's Food Store and Panera Bread; Catherine Boettner, Cleveland Tubing; Jim Duggan, Robinson Building Center; Reba Garrison, State Farm Insurance; Ron Braam, Manufacturers Chemicals; Susan Shelton, Bradley News Weekly; Larry McDaniel, Town Squire; and Mel Bedwell, Cleveland Business Machines.

The Small Business Committee of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce sponsors Business Development Month as part of the chamber's commitment to the business development of its members, the economic growth of the region, and the highest quality of life in our community.

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