Philadelphia Executive to Serve on Board of International Association

CONTACT:
Dinah Adkins, Executive Director
National Business Incubation Association
phone: (740) 593-4331
fax: (740) 593-1996
e-mail: dadkins@nbia.org

or

Matt Bergheiser
The Enterprise Center
phone: (215) 895-4011
fax: (215) 895-4001

ATHENS, OHIO — Matt Bergheiser, vice president of entrepreneurial programs at The Enterprise Center in Philadelphia, has been elected to serve on the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) board of directors.

"I hope to see NBIA continuing to take a leading role in the global incubation industry and entrepreneurial assistance in general," says Bergheiser. "I would personally like to help bring more attention to incubation in urban and distressed communities."

NBIA is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. It provides thousands of professionals with the information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies.

Opened in 1989, The Enterprise Center is a 36,000 square foot mixed-use urban incubator. The program's 29 clients have created $70 million in aggregate revenue and 311 jobs. The center has graduated eight businesses and received a 1999 NBIA Incubator of the Year award.

Business incubation catalyzes the process of starting and growing companies. A proven model, it provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. Incubation programs diversify economies, commercialize technologies, create jobs and build wealth. Today, there are more than 900 of these programs in the United States, up from 12 in 1980.

"Matt's incubator programming truly is ingenious," says NBIA Executive Director Dinah Adkins. "He is dedicated to creating a new model for urban incubation, and his NBIA conference presentation was one of the top-rated presentations."

Bergheiser has been vice president of entrepreneurial programs at The Enterprise Center since 1996. His responsibilities include managing the business incubation program dedicated to community economic development, providing consulting services, identifying sources of professional advice and designing educational programs. Bergheiser has attracted more than 25 new firms to the center, where he designed and implemented two start-up business-training programs. For the last three years, Bergheiser has served as president of the West Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, where he has worked to turn around the struggling organization. Previously, he held positions at the Wharton Small Business Development Center, Lewin-Value Health and Trenton Department of Economic Development.