Roseburg businessman Tom Wilson has a downtown office, but he hopes to move into the soon-to-open Umpqua Business Center on Washington Avenue. For the first time, he would have a receptionist instead of voice mail and a conference room instead of squeezing clients into a small office.

“I'm looking to expand,” he said. “It's going to be great for networking.”

Wilson moved his small marketing firm from Hayward, Calif., a year ago. He joins other businesses interested in renting an office at the center owned by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians.

The tribe matched $2.75 million in federal stimulus funds to remodel the former Douglas County Farmers Co-op building. Work is nearly complete, and the business center's director, Rene Toman, said the building could be ready for tenants by March.

“It's a huge investment,” Toman said. “It's going to be a great attribute to the community. The tribe has always had a goal for (promoting) economic development.”

The center will nourish small, start-up companies with discounted rent and access to services they wouldn't have otherwise, Toman said.

Businesses probably will stay for about three years before they're strong enough to move out, she said.

“What we have to try really hard to do is grow what we have — ‘economic gardening,' ” she said. “Nurturing them with services so they can make it through tough economic times. Talk about a tough time to start a business.”

The center will have 28 offices to rent. Toman said she's received interest so far from eight businesses, including a website developer, advertising firm and a restaurant searching for an office.

Tenants will share utilities and janitorial, secretarial and security services. They will have access to copiers, a conference room large enough to hold 150 people and a 30-seat training room.

Plus, businesses will be close to economic development organizations. The Partnership for Economic Development in Douglas County, Umpqua Training & Employment, Umpqua Community College's Small Business Development Center and CCD Business Development Corp. will have a presence in the 12,500-square-foot building, Toman said.

“All of the folks in town are going to be centrally located, so it's kind of like a one-stop shop for business development,” she said. “It's a way for start-ups to get specialized assistance.”

The business center's board of directors had its first meeting last month. The 17-member board includes Douglas County Commissioner Susan Morgan, Roseburg City Manager Eric Swanson, UCC President Joe Olson and Mercy Medical Center CEO Kelly Morgan.

Alex Campbell, a board member and executive director of The Partnership, said he looks forward to moving to the center.

The Partnership, which recruits companies and helps businesses expand, currently rents downtown space in the city-owned Willis House.

Campbell said the city has been a good landlord and that he will miss the charm of the historic building, but he said it will be good that The Partnership's rent payments will help fledgling businesses.

The incubator could bring more businesses to Douglas County, he said.

“I think one thing that is appealing to a lot of small businesses in general is the business atmosphere of a place,” he said. “It is part of the story that we can tell businesses when we recruit them.”

The center also will house a data center operated by tribal-owned Rio Networks. The center will store electronic records for companies and consume enough electricity to power 3,000 homes, Toman said.

The data center and rent from economic development organizations and established businesses will subsidize rent for start-up companies. Established business will be able to lease space for $3.50 a square foot, while rents for fledgling businesses will be about $1.25 a square foot, she said.

Toman's experience includes having been the economic development director for the Yavapai-Apache Nation in central Arizona and board chairwoman for a business incubator in Flagstaff, Ariz.

She also was the executive director of a nonprofit economic development association and managed a 15,000-square-foot business incubator, both in Idaho.

She said she's found business incubation effective in developing the economy.

“With my experience, I know it won't be long and these businesses will pop and people will be going, ‘Wow, there's goes another incubatee,' ” she said.

• You can reach reporter Inka Bajandas at 541-957-4202 or by email at ibajandas@nrtoday.com.