When many people consider economic development, they think of large industries ready to employ a significant portion of a community’s workforce. But many Adams County leaders have been hoping for something on a slightly less grand scale — which can have the same benefits.

A small business incubator is a facility that houses small businesses under the same roof, where they can share expenses.

And according to a pair of consultants from Mobile, Ala., Adams County is just the place to support such a facility.

&uot;We discovered Adams County is the only county of the five that could sustain an incubator,&uot; said consultant Lynn Stacey of Stacey and Associates. &uot;The other counties, if they want to get into the incubator business, they would need to get in on a network to sustain one.&uot;

A business incubator is a &uot;multi-tenant facility that houses several small businesses with controlled overhead,&uot; said Stacey, who also runs Mobile’s small business incubator.

The businesses in an incubator share space, services and resources, which helps keep their costs low — an important factor for businesses just starting out.

How an incubator works is simple, Stacey said. In terms of economic development, planners need to take into account three things: recruitment, retention and creation of businesses. The incubator fulfills the final strategy. &uot;You take entrepreneurs and help them start companies,&uot; Stacey said.

&uot;We help (communities) create new companies,&uot; he said. &uot;As we help them grow, you have economic development. Economic development begins when new capital arrives.&uot;

Alcorn State University hired Stacey and Associates to conduct a feasibility study in southwest Mississippi to determine whether the area needs a small business incubator.

Alcorn’s Dr. Franklin Jackson said the group which has been considering the center — which includes the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority — has not yet decided where to locate the incubator.

And the group also needs to find funding for the incubator. Jackson said Alcorn commissioned Stacey and Associates to do the study because it needed an independent study in order to apply for funding through the U.S. Economic Development Authority.

But if southwest Mississippi can secure funding for the incubator, it won’t be a moment too soon for local economic development officials.

&uot;We have worked on it for years,&uot; said Winnie Kaiser, community development coordinator for the Natchez-Adams County EDA.

&uot;It’s hard to get funds targeted for it.&uot;

But Kaiser said the U.S. EDA has targeted $3 million in economic development aid for southwest Mississippi, and some of those funds could be used for a regional small business incubator.

Former Natchez Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown said he had been working to get an incubator in Adams County for about five or six years.

But while Brown’s tenure did not see such a facility, Natchez’s partnership with Alcorn State toward that goal led to the development of the Main Street Marketplace, a farmer’s market in downtown Natchez.

That facility — which aims to accomplish the same goals as a business incubator but is targeted toward small farmers — is a partnership among Alcorn, the city and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But Stacey said Natchez is not behind because it doesn’t have an incubator yet.

The consultant, who has worked with about 60 communities to develop such facilities, compared the situation to the franchising of fast food restaurants: large cities had them first, then medium-sized cities, and finally small towns.

&uot;I think you will (develop a small business incubator),&uot; Stacey said. &uot;It’s a natural.&uot;