Could you use some help getting a manufacturing venture off the ground? If so, contact the Manufacturing Development Center (MDC) at Lanier Technical College.
Started in 2006, the center has launched seven new manufacturing companies including a cabinet maker and a hydraulics company. Another 10 companies are in the pipeline.
The idea came from former Lanier Tech President Mike Moye, who saw a similar incubator program operating out of a technical college in Texas and thought the idea was worth emulating. In a public/private partnership with Featherbone Partnership LLC, Lanier Tech opened the MDC in a 50,000-square-foot facility at the Featherbone Center in Gainesville.
“We’re creating jobs by creating companies, and we’ve seen more than 150 new jobs come from this center,” said Carroll Turner, MDC director. “We can offer a lot of benefits to help a new or existing business that wants to grow.”
The center is open to any entrepreneur interested in manufacturing in Georgia, but you’ll need a solid business plan to apply.
“A lot of good ideas don’t make for good businesses,” Turner said. “We’ll want to see the plan and the prospective market, the financial data and the research that’s been done. Our committee will ask whether you’ve talked to other people in the industry and suppliers, and what makes your business different. We’ll help you do a break-even analysis to see how viable the idea is.”
Not every business makes it into the center on the first try, but some companies go back to the drawing board, create a better plan and are successful on the second application.
“Once you become a part of the center, you can lease the space you need at a nominal cost, share office resources (copiers, phones, etc.) with other companies and reduce your development expenses by using the center’s rapid prototyping equipment,” Turner said.
You’ll also have access to the center’s onsite business experts, including representatives from Lanier Tech, Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center and the business department at Brenau University.
“That’s a lot of expertise and experience,” Turner said. “The advice can run the gamut from strategy to securing bank loans, equity investments, buildings and equipment. We also offer guidance with the regulatory side of running a manufacturing company, helping companies navigate through FDA or OSHA regulations.”
The center is a microcosm of the real world, Turner said. Owners must manage their companies and compete with others in the market, but they receive more guidance than most new companies, which helps them be more successful.
“They learn by doing. We tell them that if they stay a year, it’s the equivalent of a mini-MBA program,” he said. “And they’re learning in an atmosphere of growth and excitement, where they can feed off one another. It’s very rewarding to help people in this way.”
For information, call Turner at 770-535-9220 or email cturner@laniertech.edu.
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