City listed in magazine's top 10 for entrepreneurial growth

By LUIS PUGA
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

Leaders applauded Camden's designation as one of the top 10 cities for entrepreneurial growth Tuesday, adding that it's a sign that the city's economic recovery is happening.

In its March issue, Inc. magazine will list Camden as sixth in the list of growth among large, urban centers, with Atlanta topping the list. Neighboring Philadelphia, meanwhile, ranked 10th in the list for worst cities.

"With our resources and honest government comes the hard work, and this just shows the team concept is working," Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said Tuesday.

Faison, along with others in South Jersey, said the outside recognition of the city's progress affirms the impact of the $175 million in state recovery funds.

State Treasurer John McCormac, chairman of the Camden Economic Recovery board, said, "The state's focus and commitment put us in the top 10. It's as much a commitment of attitude as a commitment of money."

Frank Keith, executive director of the Rutgers Camden Business Incubator, said the ranking is evidence of the incubator's efforts, which include 34 start-up companies that range from software to medical device companies.

Keith said the incubator's plans include a downtown, six-building, high-tech park. Funded by the state Economic Development Authority, the goal will be to have a high-tech incubator in the first building, with related firms populating the others.

Along with a new venture capital fund and a $1 million seed loan fund, Keith said that will add to the list of resources available to entrepreneurs.

For Microplate Automation Inc. and its owner, Paul Hensley, that's good news.

"Entrepreneurs need all the help they can get," he said. Microplate, an incubator tenant, may be leaving the incubator soon due to possible venture capital.

Hensley, whose company has a high-tech process for cleaning fluid handling systems in the life science industry, said the state recovery funds create a buzz that investors like to hear.

"Being in Camden can be a leg up," he said.

For Ron Ford, the recovery funds didn't figure into starting City Coffee and Tax-B-Quick. There, patrons can get gourmet coffee and their tax returns, a combination that occurs when an accountant has extra space in his Market Street office.

"And I thought Camden needed a non-greasy spoon type restaurant," he said.

For Ford, business has been good and he's expanding into catering. But he admits he struggled when he started his business in May 2002.

"It's getting better," he said. "Maybe it will be a good future place to start a business."

According to Inc., two-thirds of the score for the listing was based on job growth, with one-third coming from balance among industries.