Small Business

Project VisionShare is a nonprofit, but the organization is in line to help entrepreneurs make more money. The newly formed organization, which will have an official launch at Oakland Manor on Wednesday, is an incubator without walls, created to help entrepreneurs form their business ideas and get money to help keep their fledgling businesses running. The program, founded by Brian J. McIntyre, will provide entrepreneurs in any field with low- or no-interest loans up to $25,000, business courses and mentoring support over a two-year period.

The Howard County Economic Development Authority's Neotech incubator is making ripples that are reaching around the world. It has been only two years since the technology business incubator opened, and already it is attracting the attention of international governments, universities and business groups that want to open similar training grounds for their fledgling companies. Last month, a delegation from Russia toured the incubator facilities and met with the program directors. It's not the first time the facility has played host to international visitors.

Summer is vacation time. But many small-business owners think they can't afford to take time off - they don't get paid vacations and they fear that their business will suffer when they're away. Small-business owners need to set aside time for vacations, even short ones, experts say. After all, they're already probably spending a lot of their free time taking care of company matters - checking e-mail at home, answering clients' calls on their cell phones or working on their laptops. And if they don't take time to rest, they won't have the energy that's needed to take care of bigger issues.

Small business owners whose fledgling enterprises were devastated by an 11-alarm fire at the Hollins Street Exchange two weeks ago have turned to city and federal officials at a makeshift disaster relief center in the neighborhood.More than 30 business owners have visited the center since it was opened Saturday by the city's Office of Emergency Management at the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Hollins-Payson branch.Jerome Hall, of Albert & Hall's Towing, was among the small entrepreneurs who filled out applications for federal loans and housing assistance.

Small-business owners are reasonably optimistic about their own companies despite uncertainties that could rattle the economy this year, experts say.Among the unknowns are the impact of economic woes in Asia and South America, President Clinton's political viability and the year 2000 computer problem."

IF YOU ASK Richard H. Shepherd Jr., he won't blame his loss of a General Motors auto dealership in Columbia on his race. He and GM couldn't see eye to eye on how much money the business should be making after two years. But Mr. Shepherd believes that race did play a role in car sales, providing important lessons in how blacks and whites still frequently see each other through stereotyped lenses.Mr. Shepherd, an African-American, says customers, black and white, refused to believe he was the owner of the franchise.

AGING HOUSES on Crofton's main roads that aren't very attractive to homebuyers could become the sites of start-up and small businesses if the Anne Arundel County Council passes a proposed business development bill. Under the legislation introduced by Councilman John J. Klocko III of Crofton, the modest family homes could more easily be converted to such uses as day care centers, beauty salons, florist shops and doctor's offices. Doctors, dentists and other small businesses can operate in residential neighborhoods, but they need special exceptions and existing zoning regulations limit the uses.

A sign inside the ABE Computer Spa that reads "Come Get Your Work Out" isn't a mantra to motivate people to exercise, but is a call to small business owners who need access to computers and software they may not be able to afford on their own. The Computer Spa, on Security Boulevard in Woodlawn, is designed like an exercise gym, said Anthony M. Butler, the company's founder and owner. Small business owners buy memberships that give them 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week access to five computers that have more than 250 software programs.

Kathy Miller opened an evening community mental health clinic, Naje Fattouche and Salim Hammoud are planning to clone a healthy fast-food restaurant and Jane Arason started manufacturing a futon that folds to look like a dresser. These small businesses and many more are thriving with the help of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp., which just opened a Small Business Resource Center at its offices in Annapolis to make this help more readily available. The center will create one-stop shopping for services that until now have been provided "in a haphazard way, on the fly," said Bill Badger, president and chief executive of the development corporation.

As the county's NeoTech incubator graduates its third company in as many years, the training ground for technology businesses is finding that there are fewer companies yearning to take advantage of its services. The incubator that once added so many new companies that it was forced to consolidate staffers' offices has only about six companies interested in taking the space left vacant by a2z Inc., which graduated in November, and Syntonics, which is scheduled to leave at the end of this month.