Charles F. D'Agostino

LBTC Director Appointed to State Task Force

LSU News
October 7, 2002

Charles F. D'Agostino, executive director of the Louisiana Business & Technology Center at LSU, has been appointed by Gov. M.J. "Mike" Foster to serve on the Louisiana Small Business Task Force.

Created by a state senate resolution earlier this year, the task force is charged with studying the incentives, credits, inducements and other assistance programs available to small businesses in Louisiana. D'Agostino's role on the task force will be to represent the 15 business incubators currently operating in the state.

D'Agostino said that the task force, along with legislative session, will make Louisiana the most proactive state in the country on small-business issues.

"With 95 percent of the businesses in Louisiana classified as small businesses, it is important that we address their needs and do whatever is possible to stimulate their growth and facilitate their success," he said.

The incubators in Louisiana work with hundreds of small businesses and entrepreneurs each year. The Louisiana Business & Technology Center at LSU is in its 14th year of operations on the LSU campus, where it has provided counseling and consulting services to more than 5,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The Louisiana Business & Technology Center was created in 1988 as a joint venture between LSU, the Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority. The LBTC is a department of LSU's E. J. Ourso College of Business Administration. It is composed of three units: the Small Business Incubator, the Small Business Development Center and the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office.

The Small Business Incubator provides administrative assistance and facilities to start-up companies, allowing them to concentrate on marketing and production. The Small Business Development Center assists with business plans, feasibility studies, marketing strategies and financial and operational management consulting. The Technology Transfer Office is run under contract with the Louisiana Department of Economic Development and acts as an intermediary between Louisiana businesses, NASA and other federal laboratories to promote the national Small Business Innovative Research program in the state.

For more information on the LBTC or its incubator program, contact Charles D'Agostino at 225-578-7555 or visit the Web site www.bus.lsu.edu/lbtc.

[ LSU Press Release ]