Don Ryan Center is a small business success story

It’s always better if someone else tells your story. When that happens, you know you have made an impact on others. The Greater Bluffton Chamber of Commerce recently selected the Don Ryan Center for Innovation (DRCI) as the Chamber’s Member of the Year award. 

This was a great honor. About 12 years ago, the Town of Bluffton had an idea and took a risk and established the Don Ryan Center as a business incubator and support system to diversify Bluffton’s and the region’s economy. At that time, town leaders didn’t have a clue about how a public-funded incubator would be received. 

We just knew the 2007-2008 recession was a wake-up call. Bluffton no longer had the luxury of piggybacking on the region’s economy. The leaders at the time wanted to steer the discussions about how to attract and retain non-manufacturing companies to the town’s economic portfolio. Some people scoffed at the idea. Some people joined our cause. If the Chamber’s award is any indicator, this risk was well worth it. Town leaders know what it’s like to have an idea and not know if it will succeed or not. 

DRCI is the town’s economic development department. The center is named in honor of Don Ryan, who was the first person to relocate their company headquarters to Bluffton. Ryan was the owner of CareCorp National LLC, a medical benefits management company.

DRCI has a lofty mission of supporting small business community, fostering innovation, and creating jobs while also being the foot soldiers in helping individual businesses with the minutia of how to get a company to the next level of growth. 

The Chamber judges chose DRCI for member of the year honors for being “a community innovator and advocate for business since its inception.” Located in Buckwalter Place, the center has provided support to more than 80 small businesses through its two programs geared for startup companies and another program for companies in growth stages. DRCI also has a Heroes program, providing startup business services to retired military and first responders who are starting a company. 

In the fall, DRCI will introduce a Trade-Up program, for people skilled in trades who want to start their own business. 

DRCI is also the lead in helping business owners with the recently adopted Town of Bluffton Economic Development Incentive Program to attract professional service companies, such as doctors, dentists, childcare providers and so forth, to locate or relocate west of Buckwalter Parkway. 

This area is the fastest growing area of Bluffton; however, most professional services are located east of Buckwalter Parkway. This incentive program is geared to attract more businesses to service the influx of new residents. 

A dentist from Michigan was the first grantee of this program and Dr. Jeffrey Solomon broke ground on his new $10,800,000 facility at the end of March. The town is seeking other applicants to this program, which can assist with permitting and other fees.

Lastly, DRCI provides educational opportunities, such as a new program to explore “Artificial Intelligence for Business.” For more information about that program or any of the DRCI’s services, visit donryancenter.com or contact them directly. 

The town is proud of the success of the DRCI and each business it has assisted, since we know personally what it is like to take a risk on an idea.