Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments will hold the grand opening today of its Business Development Center in Wilson.

The center is an incubator for encouraging and supporting small business startups and accelerating growth of existing companies.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon at 121 W. Nash St.

More than 150 people are expected to attend the event, including many elected officials and business, academic and community leaders from across the region.

"We have completely renovated and retrofitted the former Belk-Tyler's Department Store in the heart of downtown Wilson – at a cost of over $1.5 million – and transformed it into office spaces, conference rooms and a business environment specifically designed to help jump-start new companies and create new, good paying jobs in Eastern North Carolina," Larry Lytle, executive director, said in announcing the grand opening event. "Incubation is a crucial factor in the economic development equation.

"While attracting big-name companies to North Carolina always gets front page coverage, we tend to forget that the small companies – with less than 50 employees – are the engines that drive job creation, accounting for more than 80 percent of all jobs in our state and across the country."

Lytle said successful small companies generally stay in the communities where they are established, adding new jobs to the area as the they grow and expand business.

"We also know that more than 85 percent of companies started in an incubator stay in business, compared to 50 percent to 60 percent of new companies that go it alone," he said. "Our goal is to help create and nurture a strong entrepreneurial culture in the rural Upper Coastal Plain Region that values and encourages the spirit and passion of entrepreneurship and provides counseling and mentorship, access to resources and the supportive environment small business owners need to get through their most vulnerable startup phase."

Lytle said many resources will be available, including onsite partners like Wilson Community College's Small Business Center and the Wilson Downtown Development Corp.

The incubator includes a professional services office where partners from SCORE, the Small Business Technology Development Center, Small Business Administration and universities and colleges serving the region will schedule office hours to advise small businesses, whether inside the business incubator or from the broader community, he said.

"The Belk-Tyler's building is particularly appropriate for this venture," Lytle said. "When it first opened in 1956, it drew crowds from throughout Eastern North Carolina with its terrazzo floors, air conditioning and elevators and, for nearly 50 years, it was the place to go for serious shoppers.

"We believe it will be the place to go again – this time for serious entrepreneurs looking for the ideal location to build their dreams."