Budding entrepreneur or small business owner in Houma? Business incubator could soon help

The Terrebonne Parish Government is set to buy the Whitney Bank building and open a small business incubator.

The parish government is in talks with Whitney Bank to purchase the building in downtown Houma, 7910 Main St., this week for $3 million, according to Parish President Gordy Dove. Whitney Bank services will remain in the building, renting space from the parish. The government will then consolidate a number of its offices into the space and open a small business incubator on the first floor jointly with Fletcher Technical Community College.

Between overhead costs, rental income and the price for the 97,901 square feet, the parish is getting a deal, Dove said.

"Remember the original Government Towers - which is completely full up, I mean we can't put nobody else up in there - that was originally bought for $7.5 million, $70 a square foot back 24 years ago," he said. "We're buying this for $3 million, $30 a square foot - $40 cheaper a square foot. I buy a lot of property. That's a good deal."

According to Dove, since Hurricane Ida, the parish has been renting numerous locations for office space for its employees, which costs the parish $626,635 a year in rental fees.

The Parish Council passed a letter of intent to purchase the building for $4.3 million. The $1.3 million additional funds are to expand the building out, Dove said. Whitney Bank will continue to lease 24,964 square feet of the building at $442,502 to continue its functions.

Based on Whitney Bank's calculations provided to the parish, their average overhead costs from 2018 through 2022 were $442,410 a year.

According to Dove, Terrebonne Parish Public Works Administration and Engineering, Terrebonne Parish Housing and Human Services, the Houma Police Department and the LSU Ag Center.

On top of moving in numerous of the parish's entities, Dove said he has been in talks with the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney's Office, The Bayou Arts Council, the Veterans Affairs Office and others to see if they are interested in sharing the space.

Fletcher Technical Community College Chancellor Kristine Strickland said the college has been looking for a space to open a small business incubator since early this year. When Dove approached her, he floated the idea of opening one in the bank building.

"Fortunately, when I met with President Dove, he actually had a very similar idea," she said. "He was very interested in seeing a business incubator in Terrebonne Parish . It was kind of like the stars had aligned."

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The incubator will offer space to fledgling businesses to use for activities like conferences, lectures, meetings and general work. It also will offer lessons and tips from business professors from Fletcher's staff. The goal is to reduce the overhead costs for start ups and small businesses and also help by providing information to budding entrepreneurs.

According to Strickland, the particulars of who will qualify to use the space have yet to be ironed out, but she said it would likely be based off of how much money the prospective business earns.

She added that she wanted the lessons to be available for anyone to attend. They would not be the same as what someone would pay for at the college, but like a smaller bite-sized presentation focused on an aspect of business.

"I think the real magic happens with some of the educational programs and training that we would like to do down there," she said. "We hope to have some classroom space, so we would be able to do some business classes. Not just your traditional college degree associate level, but short-term sort of non-credit professional development."

She said these would range from certification courses to general "what to consider when starting a business" lectures. These would not only spread knowledge in the community but also create an environment that could foster networking with those who attend, she added.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Houma to get business incubator, Parish to buy Whitney Bank building