They're hatching entrepreneurs in Oxford.

        The RedHawk Hatchery, a newly established business incubator, gives Miami University students the opportunity to refine an idea into a real business.

        The hatchery is in the Entrepreneurial Resource Lab, 19 N. Poplar, next to Lazarus. The lab's mission is to create an environment in which student business owners can work and build their ideas into reality.

        “We just don't say, "Here's your space, good luck,'” said Debbi Brock, lab director. “We work with students to achieve their goals. We want them to advance. They can create their own full-time jobs when they graduate.”

Shared resources

               First, students must submit applications, which are considered on the strength of business ideas, market potential, quality of the business plan and potential to contribute to the success of the hatchery and Oxford.

        The advantage is that students can share resources, including fax and copy machines, color printers, professional advice, Internet access, computers, work space, conference rooms, phones, plus storage, library and resource areas.

        The lab also offers programs in business ideas, internships, consulting, building prototypes and women and minorities outreach.

        Miami alumni, including Boland Jones, CEO and founder of Premier Technologies, helped pay for the Resource Lab. It will hold its grand opening 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday. The building itself will be dedicated at 5:30 p.m.

        “The university didn't have room for us on campus,” Ms. Brock said. “So we ended up in uptown Oxford, which is great for us. Students can work in a total business environment.”

        Incubator fees range from $50 to $350 a month. The average cost is $100 a month.

        So far, four students are working out of the hatchery. Twenty-five applied but were told to refine their plans, she said.

        “The goal is to get them onto a national level,” Ms. Brock said.

        Student businesses working from the hatchery are a student discount card company, a gig-swapping firm for bands, a Christian magazine named The Thread and a day-care program for pampered dogs.

        “We've been very selective on the businesses we accept,” Ms. Brock said. “That's why we have only four. We give the owners a lot of opportunities to discuss plans with the university's faculty.”

Encourages entrepreneurs

               The Resource Lab is a part of the Thomas C. Page Center for Entrepreneurship, which won the National Model Entrepreneurship Award in the undergraduate category from the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

        Page Center curriculum even includes a course called Imagination and Guerrilla Marketing.

        “We have built a great team and a highly innovative and comprehensive program,” said Michael Morris, Cintas chair in entrepreneurship and the director of the Page Center. “But there is much more to do.”

        Ms. Brock said students will help themselves, if so inclined.

        “Even when they graduate or go off campus, they can be involved through our Virtual Incubator,” she said. “They can always get help and advice from our faculty through their computer.”

        Randy McNutt's column runs on Saturday. He may be reached at 860-7118 or at The Cincinnati Enquirer, 4820 Business Center Way, Cincinnati, OH 45246.

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