Dalton Innovation Accelerator is now ramping up services to small businesses

By Charles O

liver charlesoliver@dailycitizen.news

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government-enforced shutdowns during the past 12 months have taken a toll on many small business owners in Dalton and across the country.

“We lost over $160,000,” said Chuck Butler, owner of Dalton Distillery. “We shut down production of our moonshine and vodka and started making hand sanitizer when that was in short supply. We were requested to do that by the state and federal governments. And then I lost my father. It was a really bad year.”

Raymond Butler, the master distiller and public face of the distillery, died in January.

But when business began to rebound, that presented its own challenge.

“In February, our sales grew by over 300% over the previous year,” Butler said. “That’s great. But there’s a lot of costs involved in meeting that demand. I want to earn a living and maintain my father’s legacy. But I don’t want to overextend myself. I was looking for a path to growth that we could sustain.”

Butler said he was talking to Audrey Batts, program director for the Downtown Dalton Development Authority (DDDA), who told him of new services being offered by the Dalton Innovation Accelerator (DIA), a business incubator. All DIA services are free to downtown business owners under an agreement with the DDDA.

Butler met with Lauren Holverson, who became executive director of the DIA in January, and very quickly she had financial experts looking over his business.

“They didn’t just look at what we were doing but at different national trends, on traffic patterns, all sorts of stuff,” he said.

The final analysis they provided, Butler said, has made him very confident he is now on the right path.

“This was pretty thorough, high-level stuff,” he said.

The DIA is in the Landmark building in downtown Dalton and is a partnership of the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce; Barrett Properties, which owns the Landmark building; and other local businesses.

It began its incubation program in February and is accepting applications now. Up to four small businesses and entrepreneurs will be selected to take part on site, and up to 25 will be chosen to take part through virtual incubation. Those in the virtual program will still have access to the DIA and its high-speed Wi-Fi, conference room and other services. They just won’t have a dedicated space in the facility.

“Incubation is for start-up companies, less than two years old, as well as entrepreneurs who have an idea but haven’t launched it yet,”

➢ ➢ Please see HELP, 3A

Lauren Holverson, executive director of the Dalton Innovation Accelerator (DIA), sits behind a microphone in the DIA’s new content creation room. Local entrepreneurs can use the room to create audio and visual content for their websites and social media.

Charles Oliver/ Daily Citizen-News

➢ ➢ Continued from 1A

Holverson said. “They can incubate up for 18 months. They get access to our strategic partners — lawyers and other professionals who will provide free or heavily discounted services to them. They get access to all of our workshops for free. Basically, what we are here to do is guide them, so that when they leave the program they have a plan in place. If they don’t have a location, we help them find one.”

The cost of the on-site business incubation for businesses that are not in the downtown business district is $199 a month, $120 for students. The virtual incubation is $179 a month, $100 for students. Anyone in Whitfield County can apply.

The DIA also provides “co-working” space that includes access to high-speed Wi-Fi and a meeting room, discounts on workshops offered by the DIA, free coffee and other services. The cost is $49 a month or $25 for students and those working for nonprofits.

Charlie Hubbs is president of Peachy Clean, a Dalton company that makes silicone dish and kitchen scrubbers. He said he read an article about Holverson in the Daily Citizen-News when she arrived in January and contacted her to see if the DIA might be able to help his business.

“I’ve been in business with the silicone scrubbers for about nine years,” he said. “I don’t need help with manufacturing or with cash. I need help with marketing. We are profitable. We are making money. But I think I’ve got a product that can be a household name. I’ve also got a seat cushion that I’m launching that can be used by truck drivers, by people sitting at computers all day, by people in wheelchairs.”

Hubbs said he and Holverson have met several times.

“We are trying to figure out the areas we want to prioritize,” he said. “I’ve got products that are anti-microbial and could be used in healthcare, in the military and in high-tech industries. I’m the only company doing these silicone products.”

Hubbs said it’s early in the process but he is very impressed with Holverson.

“I’ve met with the small business people at Georgia Tech,” he said. “I’ve also worked with the small business division at the University of Georgia. I’m a University of Georgia graduate. They were very cooperative, but at the end of the day I got no help from either of those institutions. In four or five weeks, Lauren and I have already got three or four things that we are working on and making progress on.”