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GREENSBORO - Sam Funchess says entrepreneurs are a bright light in this dark economy, and he's got statistics to prove it.

The 66 small businesses at the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship added 18 workers this year and saw their revenues grow by 3 percent, said Funchess, the center president and chief executive officer.

"Entrepreneurial companies are growing in the current distressed environment," Funchess said. "We see all the big companies laying off swaths of people at 100-person-plus clips. But entrepreneurial companies are holding their own and some are growing quite well."

Companies in the center pay rent and, in return, get help on business plans and a wide variety of business support. The goal is to succeed and graduate into a bigger space with more growth potential.

Two companies at Nussbaum provided the biggest portion of this year's growth, Funchess said:

l All Stars Group, which offers mental health services for the state and the county.

l Waste Disposal Solutions, which helps businesses find the best and least expensive ways to haul away trash.

The center's businesses employ 81 full-time and 38 part-time workers.

And considering the economic carnage all around, Funchess said the companies are holding on.

"Based on today's economy, holding your own is quite impressive," Funchess said.

Of the 66 companies in the center, Funchess said 68.3 percent are women- or minority-owned.

The center added almost 10 companies this year, he said.

It could be a sign people are hanging on to jobs at the moment and nurturing ideas of starting businesses: "If I have a job," Funchess said, "I'm not about to make a move. But at the minute I get laid off, that's when I'm gonna kick up my entrepreneurial fire."

Fifteen companies graduated this year, he said, 13 of those moving into larger commercial space.

Two moved into the owner's home, which is usually a sign of serious cost-cutting, Funchess said.

The top graduate this year was Prymak, a company that develops software for the financial industry, Funchess said. It has seven full-time and two part-time employees, and is a spinoff from FirstPoint, the credit and collections agency based in Greensboro.

Funchess has spotted only a few signs of strain so far. All Stars, for example, has seen a slowdown in its payments from state and local governments.

Otherwise, Nussbaum is not dependent on grants or corporate contributions, he said, but runs from rent it collects from tenants. Businesspeople volunteer on boards and come to the center when invited for specific topics. But otherwise, it is self-sustaining, Funchess said.

Meanwhile, Funchess said he doesn't worry about losing the time of busy executives who may be in disaster mode themselves.

"We haven't seen any decline in people willing to help - so far."

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news-record.com