New Don Ryan Center program will help Beaufort Co. veterans, ‘heroes’ start businesses
A new program is intended to help current and retired Beaufort County military, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers become successful entrepreneurs.
The Heroes Initiative, started by the Don Ryan Center for Innovation, a non-profit business incubator and Town of Bluffton department located at Buckwalter Place, will help local “heroes” use their training and technology skills to start their own businesses or grow current businesses, said Don Ryan Center CEO Mike Levine.
“These are the people who help us, and this initiative gives us an opportunity to help them,” Levine said Thursday.
The Don Ryan Center, founded in 2012, received a $55,000 grant this year from the S.C. Department of Commerce Office of Innovation to start the program. The state department announced in January that $670,000 in grants would be split among 13 organizations, including the City of Myrtle Beach and the Greenville Local Development Corporation, to support technology-based economic development projects.
Through fundraising efforts, Levine said, the center was able to match the grant, and the program is fully funded with $110,000.
The initiative will focus on two programs, Levine said:
▪ The startup program, which will help military veterans, police fire and EMS workers start their own businesses;
▪ The growth program, which will help current business owners grow their businesses.
Those who want to take advantage of the program must give a 15-minute business pitch to the center’s board of directors, who then vote on whether the prospective business owner can be part of the initiative, Levine said.
Once a business is part of the program, the Don Ryan Center will provide a lengthy set of services to help the business get off the ground and navigate the market. Those services include business plans, how to hire staff, how to get your product to market and how to market your company, Levine said.
The Don Ryan Center — created in 2012 as a collaborative effort between the Town of Bluffton and the Clemson University Institute for Economic and Community Development — provides resources, education and work spaces to help nurture local start-up companies.
In 2017, the center merged with the Bluffton Public Development Corporation to create a “one-stop-shop” dedicated to growing, retaining and attracting businesses.
Earlier this year, the center announced it would expand its services to Hardeeville with a $40,000 investment from the city.
For more information about how to get involved with the Heroes Initiative, visit www.donryancenter.com.
