Editor's Note: This story was originally published May 24, 2018, on the Cincinnati Business Courier's website, and was republished here with its permission.
Economic development and business incubator operator HCDC Inc. has launched an Office of Innovation + Creativity program with funding from Hamilton County.
The program aims to provide support for fast-growing companies in the second stage of development, Karla Boldery, HCDC’s innovation services director who heads up the new office, told me. It’s aiming to serve companies that have topped $1 million in annual revenue, have as much as $50 million in revenue and employ 10 to 100 people. That segment doesn’t get much help now, Boldery said, based on recent research.
“Once they hit that $1 million mark, it’s a pretty lonely landscape,” Boldery said. “We found that we’re a very strong region for supporting startups, but we found the biggest gap was in providing support to these second-stage companies.
HCDC decided to address that and sought funding from Hamilton County. County commissioners approved a grant worth $250,000 to fund the office.
The program features three pillars to help these established companies continue to grow:
- Provide technical assistance in market research, digital marketing and geographic information systems. The latter involves mapping data so business owners can determine which geographic areas they should target, Boldery said.
- Provide information. That includes curating topics of interest, influencers and best practices to companies can leverage that information to spur growth.
- Provide connectivity. That could include CEO roundtables or peer learning groups, Boldery said.
“We want to help them reach that next level of growth,” Boldery said. “We’ll provide the answer to their $1 million or $20 million question.”
She’s seeking 10 companies now to start with the first “pillar” of the program: getting technical assistance. HCDC is taking applications now through July 15. Interested companies can contact Boldery at kboldery@hcdc.com.
The program is aimed at high-growth companies that have posted growth over at least the last three years and that export their products or services beyond Greater Cincinnati, Boldery said. She wants a commitment of 10 to 12 hours of engagement from the CEO or a C-level officer.
The first 10 companies it chooses will be able to join for free. After that, the Office of Innovation + Creativity will charge a fee. It hasn’t determined how much it’ll cost, but Boldery put the value of its services at $5,000 to $10,000.
“Companies aren’t getting this information because it’s highly specialized and costly,” she said.
Boldery was hired last month to run the office. She has worked in Greater Cincinnati for the past two decades, has worked at HCDC for three years as a business coach, previously worked as a business adviser at the Ohio Small Business Development Center and was a Courier Forty Under 40 winner in 2015.
