Owner Greg Celoni of Coastal Counter Tops LLC talks about his company at the North Bend Business Development Center on Tuesday. “I would have never been able to start this business without this organization,” he said. World Photo by Alex Powers

NORTH BEND — Surrounded by unfinished cabinets in his workshop, Greg Celoni proudly shows pages in an album holding photos of his cabinetry and fancy stairwells. He made them all by hand.

It was three years ago, Celoni and his son, Adam Celoni, opened the doors in a small section of the Business Development Center building in North Bend. His dream was to launch a business to sell custom counter tops.

“About a year and a half ago I opened a second bay,” he said. “I really needed this section for what I wanted to achieve.”

Also called the business incubator, the center is a warehouse of sorts, offering space for start-up businesses. Those small business owners benefit from low rent, but also office help and counseling on business and financial plans, marketing, bookkeeping and other services.

For Celoni, that meant he could start Coastal Counter Tops with an initial $2,000 investment. Since it opened in 2005, the business has doubled in size and more than quadrupled its revenue.

“I’ve grown quite a bit,” Celoni said. “My first year here was slow — $70,000. The next year I made $195,000 and last year $310,000, as far as work going out.”

Now Celoni has three full-time employees. His company has done counter top and cabinetry work for local businesses such as the Bungalow Market, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay, the city of Coos Bay and Empire Café.

He talked with pride about his products, Corian and Staron, sturdy acrylic counter tops, which lay in big slabs on wooden table tops, some held together with vices waiting for adhesive glue connecting them to dry.

“When you fabricate, you have to do it correctly,” he said of the bonding process. “You have to be certified in order for the warranty to apply.”

Celoni uses most wood types. The most popular are hickory, cherry and oak. He uses pecan, too, but said, these days, mahogany is impossible to find since it is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

County Commissioner Nikki Whitty came up with the idea for the business incubator in 1993, said Donna Nichols, port director of finance and administration.

The building was purchased with grants from the Rural Economic and Community Development Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Coos Curry Douglas Regional Strategies Board, Coos County, the state of Oregon and the Economic Development Administration.

“With this grant, the building must always operate as an incubator,” Nichols said.

The building is owned through an intergovernmental agreement between the Coos County Airport District, Coos County and North Bend. The port, which took over management and maintenance of the center in 2000, pays a land lease to the Airport District.

“It’s a great partnership, and the thing about it is it’s a one-stop shop for new entrepreneurial businesses,” Nichols said.

The center just received a U.S. Forest Service grant to update plans for expansion. Nichols hopes with this grant, and others she is applying for, the center will add four more bays and offices upstairs.

According to center Director Arlene Soto, about 500 jobs have been created and 55 businesses have graduated from the center. According to center records, five of the businesses either didn’t succeed or the records are inconclusive.

Celoni is not in a hurry to leave the center, even though graduation usually comes after three years. Leasing a building is expensive — about $1 per square foot per month. At the Business Development Center, companies pay 31 cents per square foot.

“I do want to stay in the community and hope to be able to purchase a building and set up shop,” Celoni said. “I want to find a location where I would be able to provide a showroom.”

At this stage, the incubator can help Celoni develop a finance plan, too, before he makes a move.

“This place has been a godsend for me,” Celoni said. “I would not have been able to start this business without the center. I took classes in the first phase to see if I wanted to start this business. From there, I was able to grow slowly.”

Staff Writer Jo Rafferty covers business news for The World. She can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 236; or by e-mailing to jrafferty@theworldlink.com.