Holston Business Development Center

What Holston Business Development Center does

Holston Business Development Center (HBDC) is a for-profit small business incubator founded in August 2003 and headquartered at 2005 Venture Park in Kingsport, Tennessee. The company operates a single 13,000 square foot facility — situated on Holston Army Ammunition Plant land off US Highway 11W — comprising twenty-four 400 square foot suites suitable for office use and light manufacturing, alongside shared conference, training, and daily office space. HBDC serves startups launching in the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County region and existing companies seeking to pivot or rebrand, providing affordable physical workspace, business counseling, referrals, and consulting services through Director Liz Bennett and a small staff of 1-10 employees.

The product portfolio is structured as a physical workspace offering rather than a technology platform. Core revenue streams include (1) tenant suite rentals on a progressive rent scale starting at $350/month in year one, (2) tiered affiliate memberships ranging from a $20/month mailbox-only tier to a $250/month Corporate tier with 60 hours of shared space, and (3) usage-based rentals of conference rooms ($25/hour or $100/day), training classrooms ($40/hour or $160/day), and private daily offices ($30/day). Supporting, non-revenue-generating offerings include the CO.STARTERS entrepreneur development program and curated referrals to a regional partnership network that includes Women's Business Center, BRIDGE Regional Economic Development Group, Create Appalachia, Founders Forge, The Inventor Center, KOSBE, and SYNC.SPACE, with formal ties to the City of Kingsport and Hawkins County government.

HBDC's go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven: the Director actively recruits tenants, assists existing clients, and advocates for entrepreneurial efforts throughout Northeast Tennessee. Distribution is exclusively direct and on-site at the single Kingsport facility, with marketing conducted through hbdc.org, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and no outside funding has been raised; the organization operates as an independent private entity with no parent company.

Name

Holston Business Development Center

Legal name

Holston Business Development Center

Website

https://hbdc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Holston Business Development Center is a Kingsport, Tennessee business incubator founded in 2003 that rents 24 office suites, tiered affiliate memberships, and shared meeting rooms to startups and pivoting companies across the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Incubation Services

NAICS

Facilities Support Services (561210), Administrative and Support Services (561)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Space & Occupancy Services (Move/Add/Change, Seating, Wayfinding) (IMAIALAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Workplace Hospitality & Office Services (Pantry, Refreshments, Supplies) (BPABAEAF)

Keywords

• Business incubator
• Office space rental
• Coworking memberships
• Startup support
• Business counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

Kingsport

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tenant Suite Rentals: HBDC rents 24 office/manufacturing suites (400 sq ft each) to startups and existing companies on a progressive rent scale, with first-year rent starting at $350/month.
2. Affiliate Memberships: Multiple tiers of membership providing professional mailing address, building access, business internet, and scheduled shared space usage. Tiers range from $20/month (mailbox only) to $250/month (corporate with 60 hours shared space).
3. Shared Room Rentals: Hourly and daily rentals of conference rooms ($25/hour or $100/day), training classrooms ($40/hour or $160/day), and private daily office spaces ($30/day).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HBDC operates a business incubator providing physical workspace solutions including 24 office/manufacturing suites (400 sq ft each, first-year rent starting at $350/month), hourly and daily rentals of conference rooms, training classrooms, and daily offices, plus tiered affiliate memberships (mailbox-only to corporate with shared space access). It also delivers business counseling, consulting, referrals, and the CO.STARTERS entrepreneurial program to startups and existing companies in the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County region.

Product overview

Holston Business Development Center (HBDC) is a business incubator that operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering consists of physical workspace solutions including twenty-four 400 square foot office suites (rent starting at $350/month), shared room rentals (Conference Room, Training Classroom, and Daily Office Rental), and various Affiliate Membership tiers ranging from mailbox-only ($20/month) to Corporate level ($250/month). These membership tiers provide graduated access to building amenities, shared spaces, internet, and business resources. Supporting services include business counseling, consulting, referrals, and partner programs like CO.STARTERS for entrepreneurial development. The center opened in August 2003 and serves the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Office Space Suites Twenty-four 400 square foot office/manufacturing suites available for startups and existing companies on a progressive rent scale, with first-year rent starting at $350/month. Each suite includes a window and PTAC air conditioning unit, with 24/7 building access.
• Conference Room Rental 400 square foot conference room with seating for 10-15 people, equipped with a whiteboard, projector, and display screen. Available at $25.00/hour or $100.00/day for client meetings, brainstorming sessions, or team discussions.
• Training Classroom Rental Flexible 800 square foot training space with seating for 24-40 people, equipped with a 70-inch display with HDMI/VGA connection. Available at $40.00/hour or $160.00/day for teaching, training, or presentations.
• Daily Office Rental 400 square foot private/shared office space with a desk, Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection, and a small conference table seating 4. Available at $30.00/day as a personal workspace option.
• Affiliate Membership Program Tiered membership program for businesses and individuals needing a professional presence without a dedicated suite. Tiers include: Mailbox ($20/month, professional mailing address with business hours access); Basic Affiliate ($50/month, 24/7 key access, business internet, 10 hours/month shared space); Advanced Affiliate ($100/month, 20 hours/month shared space); and Corporate Affiliate ($250/month, 60 hours/month shared space with priority access for full-time members).
• Business Counseling and Consulting Direct assistance provided by HBDC staff to startups and existing companies through referrals, business counseling, and consulting services to help clients address business needs and concerns.
• CO.STARTERS Program Entrepreneurial program presented by HBDC to support and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit for creating diverse businesses and jobs in the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County area.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Women's Business CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen's Business Center is a partner of HBDC with a mission of shaping a brighter future for Northeast Tennessee women in business.
• BRIDGE Regional Economic Development GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBRIDGE Regional Economic Development Group is a partner of HBDC. Their tagline reflects a philosophy that no region can be at its best without individual communities being at theirs.
• Create AppalachiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreate Appalachia partners with HBDC to integrate art and business for the benefit of the region, offering programs and events.
• Founders ForgecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounders Forge is a partner of HBDC, believing in underdog entrepreneurs and helping them on their startup journeys.
• The Inventor CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Inventor Center is a partner of HBDC — a Downtown Kingsport Makerspace and community for Making, Craft, Art, and More, with a 'Learn. Create. Innovate.' philosophy.
• KOSBE (Kingsport Office of Small Business Development & Entrepreneurship)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKOSBE is a partner of HBDC, serving as the Kingsport Office of Small Business Development & Entrepreneurship.
• SYNC.SPACEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSYNC.SPACE is a partner of HBDC, championing all entrepreneurs through leadership, programs, resources, and connections.
• City of KingsportminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Kingsport is referenced as a partner organization, with HBDC located within the greater Kingsport area.
• Hawkins CountyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHawkins County is referenced as a partner organization, with HBDC serving the Greater Kingsport and Hawkins County area.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Industrious: Premium flexible-workspace operator providing private offices, suites, and meeting rooms — overlapping with HBDC's category, though oriented toward enterprise-grade experiences in larger metros; serves as an upper-bound benchmark of what a scaled workspace operator looks like.
• Gener8tor: A larger, multi-region startup accelerator and incubator network that bundles cohort programming, mentorship, and investment; broader in scope than HBDC but provides the same kind of entrepreneur-support value chain that HBDC delivers at a more local level.
• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives): National nonprofit providing free business mentoring and counseling to entrepreneurs — overlapping with HBDC's 'business counseling and referrals' value proposition across a vastly larger footprint, and a natural complement/co-competitor in the small-business advisory market.
• Regus / IWG: World's largest flexible-workspace operator offering office rentals, meeting rooms, and virtual office memberships — overlaps with HBDC's office-suite, room-rental, and affiliate-membership products, though at a substantially larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Office Evolution: Franchise-based flexible office provider offering private offices, shared workspaces, virtual offices, and meeting rooms — directly comparable service mix to HBDC's suites/memberships/rooms, positioned more toward suburban and secondary-market U.S. geographies.

Others

• Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC): Federal-state economic development partnership serving the Appalachian region, including funding and programmatic support for entrepreneurship initiatives in the same geography HBDC serves; influences grant availability and tenant pipeline rather than directly competing for workspaces.
• BRIDGE Regional Economic Development Group: Regional economic-development organization serving the same broader Northeast Tennessee footprint as HBDC; not a direct workspace competitor but a key partner/ecosystem participant that influences tenant pipeline and policy support for local small-business formation.

Direct peers

• TechPlace: Kingsport-based tech-focused coworking and business incubation space in the same Northeast Tennessee market as HBDC; offers memberships, office space, and event programming targeted at entrepreneurs — a near-direct overlap in geography, product, and customer.
• KOSBE (Kingsport Office of Small Business Development & Entrepreneurship): Already a HBDC partner, but functionally a co-equal entrepreneur-support organization in Kingsport offering counseling, workshops, and small business services to the same regional customer base — the closest peer-level comparator for incubating activity.

Regional players

• The Foundry (Knoxville, TN): Knoxville-area coworking and business-incubator space providing shared offices, meeting rooms, and accelerator programming to East Tennessee entrepreneurs; comparable business model and customer segment to HBDC but serving a different (neighboring) Tennessee market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hbdctn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/holston-business-development-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Holston Business Development Center