Contact:
Linda Knopp
Communications Manager
National Business Incubation Association
(740) 593-4331
lknopp@nbia.org

NBIA Names New Executive Committees

November 5, 2007

ATHENS, Ohio –The National Business Incubation Association’s board of directors named its new executive committee during a Nov. 2 meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

New officers include Devron Veasley, director of the Bessemer Business Incubation System in Bessemer, Ala., chairman; David Lohr, executive director of the Virginia Biosciences Development Center in Richmond, Va., first vice chairman; Evan Jones, director of @Wales Digital Media Initiative in Cardiff, Wales, second vice chairman; Ann Lansinger, executive director of the Emerging Technology Centers in Baltimore, treasurer; and Carol Lauffer, a principal with Business Cluster Development in Palo Alto, Calif., secretary.

Committee leaders also were named at the meeting: Tony Antoniades, general manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center and director of entrepreneur services at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Audit Committee chairman; Jones, Strategic Directions Taskforce chairman; Lauffer, Events and Training Committee chairwoman; Lohr, Membership Committee chairman; and Joel Wiggins, president and CEO of the Enterprise Center of Johnson County in Lenexa, Kan., Nominating Committee chairman.

“The work of NBIA and the organization's strategic direction are guided by the executive committee and other committees and taskforces,” said NBIA President & CEO Dinah Adkins. “These groups bring together the skills of top-level managers to serve the needs of all members and to enrich everything we do at NBIA. The NBIA staff and I look forward to meeting with our new leaders and working together.”

Business incubation programs catalyze the process of starting and growing companies by providing entrepreneurs the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. NBIA estimates that in 2005 alone, North American incubators assisted more than 27,000 start-up companies that provided full-time employment for more than 100,000 workers and generated annual revenue of more than $17 billion.

Based in Athens, Ohio, the National Business Incubation Association is the world’s leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Since 1985, the association has provided industry professionals with information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies.

NBIA’s 15-member board of directors, made up of representatives from leading business incubation programs, governs the organization. The group meets three times a year to discuss association business, including educational programming, finances, member recruitment/services and publications.