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Innovation is flourishing in Valley this week as Circle of Care’s Innovation Center held its grand opening, showcasing the services that are now being offered to local entrepreneurs. 

“Today, all the hard work and planning and things that we’ve done previously have come to fruition,” Innovation Center Director Markedrick Dawson told the Valley Times. “We’ve moved from that little small box office over in the Circle of Care building to our very own [building] here, the Innovation Center.”

The Innovation Center, a collaboration between Circle of Care and the Chambers County Development Authority, is a small business incubator where local aspiring entrepreneurs can use resources such as renting office space, using internet, printers and other office equipment and participating in workshops. 

The project has been nearly five years in the making according to CCDA Director Chris Busby. The center will now be headed by a Valley native and successful entrepreneur, Dawson.

“Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our community,” Busby said. 

“We’re here to coach, mentor, help entrepreneurs and small business owners in any way that they need possible. We want to meet them where they are,” Dawson said. 

From starting an LLC to getting a business license to working on marketing strategies, the center will be the one-stop shop for entrepreneurs.

Many organizations, civic groups and local officials have sponsored the program including Representative Debbie Wood, Coosa Valley RC&D, Center on Rural Innovation and Innovate Alabama.

One such small business that has already been utilizing the business incubator program is Searchlight Counseling. Since taking up with the program, the small business has grown from two counselors to seven providers and serves over 250 clients in the Greater Valley area. 

The program has provided a framework for success and a safety net during the obstacles along the way.

“We want your business stationed here to help grow the Valley,” Dawson said. 

The goal, Dawson said, is to invest back into Valley and the Greater Valley area so that local innovators can base their business in their hometown. 

“We want them to feel the sense of community here, feel that they have some support for their dreams and their ideas because that’s what we’re here for,” Dawson said.