New Orleans Executive to Serve on Board of International AssociationCONTACT:Dinah Adkins, Executive Director National Business Incubation Association phone: (740) 593-4331 fax: (740) 593-1996 e-mail: dadkins@nbia.org or
ATHENS, OHIO — Mary
Kahn, vice president for community programs, Arts Council
of New Orleans, has been elected to the National Business Incubation
Association (NBIA) board of directors.
"Because incubation is still so new, it
is still evolving," says Kahn. "It's exciting to be
part of that evolution because incubation is useful to so many
different communities and different industries. I'm particularly
interested in incubation in the arts. The implications of arts
incubation are just emerging in the U.S. and have yet to be seen
internationally."
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.
The Arts Council of New Orleans operates the
Entergy Arts Business Center, one of about five arts incubators
in the United States. The 10,000 square foot center was designed
to provide business assistance through monthly workshops and forums,
an active tenant program as well as affordable legal advice and
health insurance for nascent arts organizations. Entergy Arts
Business Center currently has nine tenants and has graduated both
the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Orleans Ballet
Association. Arts incubator members include 40 arts organizations
and 200 individual members. NBIA named Entergy Arts Business Incubator
as 1999 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year. Louisiana Philharmonic
Orchestra, a client of Entergy Arts Business Center, was 1996
NBIA Service Client of the Year.
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.
"Mary truly was one of the first people
involved with arts incubation," says NBIA executive director
Dinah Adkins. "She has brought a tremendous amount of energy
and innovation into that process. We are so glad to have her expertise.
It really rounds out the leadership."
As vice president of the Arts Council, Kahn
has oversight for the Arts Business Center and served as its director
for eight years. She also wrote the concept paper for the incubator
and secured its funding. She has developed an entrepreneurship
training workshop for visual and performing arts and is vice president
of the Louisiana Business Incubation Association. Other positions
she has held include program director of the Institute of Museum
Services, a federal agency. Kahn initiated the formation of a
coalition of arts incubators in New Orleans. Kahn is currently
serving as a consultant for an upcoming NBIA publication on incubating
the arts.
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