David Gonzales, the heart of a business incubator.

• Author: Caley, Nora
• Position: Small Biz - Brief Article

DAVID GONZALES, STUDIED ART AND TRIED A STINT AS A SOCIAL WORKER years ago. He never imagined then that he'd spend the better part of his career helping entrepreneurs figure out the best way to prepare mushroom-and-Gorgonzola tartlets or learn the difference between accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Gonzales, the executive director of the Denver Enterprise Center, a business incubator, went to college on an art scholarship, changed his mind because he didn't like abstract painting, then earned a masters degree in guidance and counseling. He also has a doctorate in educational administration.

When he tried social work, he rejected the system as self-perpetuating. By 1990, when he arrived at the Enterprise Center, he'd worked as director of employment and training for the City of Denver.

The concept for the center was still new: Bring together micro-businesses so they could learn from each other and from visiting experts. The idea of trying to bring jobs and hope to a languishing neighborhood -- the center is on 30th Street, between Lawrence and Arapahoe -- was also novel.

But the center was the place where Gonzales could finally be creative and help people at the same time.

Now he organizes lunches where guest speakers explain how to market with no advertising budget or how to write a no-compete clause. He asks corporations to donate money so more small companies can set up at the center, at below market rents. And he makes sure the media pays attention, keeping a three-ring binder stuffed with news clips about the center and its tenants.

"I see companies still here clear into the evening. And it's not, 'poor old me,"' he says. "They love it. They are fired up, and they live and breathe this thing."

When the owners of these startups...