The Micro Business Incubator (MBI)

…brings training, development, resources, and support to businesses throughout the Upper Albany neighborhood of Hartford. The philosophy that drives the MBI is, “Give a man a fish and he’ll feed himself for a day. Teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.” The MBI program matches micro-enterprises in Upper Albany with students from the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business to cultivate business capacity. Using one-to-one, on-site training students and business owners work together in areas including:

Students bring assistance to the business at their location. Using a “train the trainers” approach, students help develop Upper Albany entrepreneurs’ business acumen by applying concepts from the intellectual capital developed at the University of Hartford and a series of seminars devoted to specific areas of need identified by a needs assessment. As part of the mutual learning experience, students obtain hands-on, real world understanding about owning and operating a small business as well as first-hand exposure to diversity through this unique service learning initiative. With over 295 students who have participated in the program a staggering total of over 11,300 hours of training have been served to the merchants of Upper Albany.

Developed in 2002 as a joint project by Upper Albany Main Street, the University of Hartford, and the Metro Hartford Alliance, the MBI served ten businesses in its first year. Currently, the MBI provides service to 25 micro-enterprises in Upper Albany, and has worked with a total of 62 different businesses over the course of the past four years. As a direct result of the MBI program, 26 businesses have received computers and training, 22 businesses received loan assistance totaling over $765,000, at least 145 new jobs have been created in the neighborhood, 2 businesses significantly expanded their operations, and more than 88.1 million dollars in private investment has been infused within the community of Upper Albany. In 2004, the MBI was recognized as the “Best Economic Development Program” in the State of Connecticut, and was featured in BusinessWeek’s SmallBiz in 2005. The MBI is a unique, innovative public-private partnership that has helped illuminate that the Upper Albany gateway is critical to the success of revitalization efforts throughout Hartford.