Business incubator promises to infuse downtown Augusta with enterprise

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Augusta is getting ready to launch the next generation of business owners in a new business incubator at 600 Broad St.

If you ask Margaret Woodard, she will tell you Augusta is in need of some economic recovery — and the new micro-enterprise center downtown couldn’t have finished up renovations at a better time as the downtown area is currently struggling with some business.

Leaders say the idea was born during the peak of the pandemic, when so many businesses were struggling.

Now, years later, the city is trying to meet that need with hands-on, in-person resources.

We’re getting a first look today as Woodard, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, shows us the ins and outs of the Accelerate Augusta building that’s been designed to both Augusta Technical College students and local entrepreneurs in the state-of-the-art space.

Several local businesses shut their doors just last week, and Woodard says there’s an urgent need for economic stimulation and for small business growth.

She feels the incubator could be the answer.

“We’re providing training, mentorship and a space for entrepreneurs to develop their micro-business ideas into sustainable ventures,” she said. “They get to train and create their ideas in this building, and then they get to take them out and they get to work alongside these business owners here in our beautiful downtown.”

She said downtown Augusta needs this resource.

“We want to keep them here and help them out,” she said.

Leaders say the two things people struggle with when it comes to starting and keeping a business are money and customers.

They feel the building will be a foundation and resource for economic recovery and growth.

The good news is that the building has a dual purpose. It will serve as a training center for budding entrepreneurs while also being a resource center for existing businesses.

In the fall building will offer a bootcamp to learn the ins and outs of how to run a business. Instructors will host pitch meetings where entrepreneurs can eventually present their ideas to angel investors for funding.

There’s even an incubator section allowing six businesses to continue working on their marketing and business plans.

Existing businesses, even ones outside of the city limits, will have access to legal advice, HR advice, ing help and more

“Every day on my way home, I drive down Broad Street, and every now and then you’ll see a business that’s closed, and you’ll go, what could we have done? We’re hopeful that this is the answer to the resources that strengthen our small businesses and ensure success,” said Woodard.

Leaders say the goal is to be a community resource that keeps businesses from closing.

“During the pandemic, when we were trying to help small businesses navigate those waters, we realized that they needed resources,” said Woodard. “We’re starting to see some post-Hurricane Helene, a couple of closures from that, but we’re still seeing a consistent good number of businesses open, but anything we can do. Every year, we have new businesses that open and then businesses that close, and we come up with a net gain number. We would love to see the business closure number shrink so that we can provide those resources.”

Augusta Tech says there’s a lot of interest in this resource, and several are already taking some intro classes.

Right now, Woodard says things are on track for the doors to open in the fall. All they have left to do is some landscaping and hire an executive director.

We’ll be updating this story throughout the day online and on News 12 at 6 p.m.

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