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Om Tuesday we heard about the feasibility of starting a business incubator in Bloomington-Normal. The EDC along with Illinois State University has been working on developing a business incubator in McLean County for the past several years. An incubator is a place people can go to and learn how to start and grow a business. They receive a physical location to work, services, counseling and other types of services.

Our consultant, Jim Greenwood has developed a number of incubators throughout the country. He has developed a system for making sure that a real measurement of a communities chances for success can be determined. On a scale of 1-100 with 50 being average we scored a 73. So we are halfway between average and excellent. Our strongest score came in the area of demand and market, having a local champion and several choices of available buildings. Our weakness was that we aren’t a distressed community therefore we cannot get EDA (Economic Development Administration, a part of the Commerce Department) funding. They fund incubators, but usually for communities that have real distress.

Once we get the incubator built, we will be able provide all types of assistance to small businesses, entrepreneurs and people interested in being part of the world of commerce.

Tuesday was also our weekly radio show. We interviewed Brian Simpson of Babbitt’s Books. I love his story. He started his first business, a used clothing store (vintage, I believe), in 1985 after he raised his initial equity by making $500 in a garage sale. He didn’t have a mentor, the luxury of an incubator or any other assistance. He merely had the willingness to take a chance and to live simply. He said he didn’t go out to lunch for five years until he hired his first employee. He got tired of eating in the store.

There is no best way to start a business. In both cases, being the recipient of counseling and services at an incubator or bootstrapping with $500 of garage sale equity, if you have a passion for something, the willingness to FAIL, and don’t know any better, then you might succeed. I wish you luck.

Ken, Springer of the Bloomington Normal EDC reports this morning that unemployment rates are mixed in April. Several communities showed improvement, however the question is, are we seeing a trend? Hard to say, but if these small improvements here in Illinois and elsewhere in the US keep happening what you will see will be continued improvements in consumer confidence, and that will be significant.

The April unemployment numbers are out, and Illinois metro areas seem to be mixed in their performance. Here are a list of metros in Illinois and their March to April unemployment rates:

Bloomington-Normal DOWN 6.3% to 5.9%
Champaign DOWN 6.9% to 6.2%
Chicago UP 9.4% to 9.8%
Decatur FLAT 9.8%
Peoria UP 8.9% to 9.2%
Rockford DOWN 13.5% to 12.1%
Springfield DOWN 6.8% to 6.0%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

How are you doing? Laying off or adding on?