The Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction has received additional recognition for its efforts supporting entrepreneurs and startups.

The center was named runnerup for the Entrepreneurship Center of the Year Award presented as part of an international conference on business incubation in San Antonio.

Dalida Sassoon Bollig, chief executive officer of the Business Incubator Center, said the award spotlights the work at the facility on a global stage.

“It  highlights our work in entrepreneurial ecosystem building in Mesa County and the surrounding region,” Bollig said. “It reflects the hard work of our entire community and the collective commitment and dedication to fostering innovation and supporting the visionaries propelling our local economy forward.”

The center was selected for the recognition from among more than 1,200 members of the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) from 30 countries.

The Business Incubator Center offers a range of services and programs in a single location.

The Small Business Development Center offers free and low-cost counseling and classes, including the Leading Edge business planning course. Bollig said 14 small businesses completed the latest course this spring.

The incubator program and commercial kitchen offers low-cost space and shared services for businesses.

The GJmakerspace at the center offers space, equipment and resources to entrepreneurs, inventors and others for product development, prototyping and manufacturing.

The center also operates FWorks, a coworking space located on the second floor of the Fruita Civic Center.

In addition, the center manages a revolving loan fund offering access to capital to small businesses, a program offering tax credits for capital project and training for nonprofit organizations.

The center recently opened a satellite officer of the Circular Economy Development Center to serve the Western Slope and launched what’s billed as the AgriWest initiative with a federal grant from the Economic Recovery Corps.

The Entrepreneurship Center of the Year recognition is the latest in a series of awards for the Business Incubator Center.

The center was honored as the InBIA Dinah Adkins Incubator of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Those awards came from a pool of more than 7,000 incubators around the world.

The center was named Incubator of the Year in 1995 and 1996 and also has been listed among the top 50 InBIA best practices facilities worldwide.

“These distinctions affirm our belief in our strategic direction and fuel us with the energy and inspiration to aim even higher,” Bollig said.

Those recognitions wouldn’t be possible, she said, without the support of partners that include the cities of Grand Junction and Fruita, Mesa County and the Town of Palisade as well as the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.