BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An incubator to help grow small businesses on Buffalo's east side is getting a new management company.

Mayor Byron Brown announced the selection of Next Street as the program operator of the Beverly Gray Business Exchange Center on East Utica Street just off Jefferson Avenue. 

The center opened last fall to provide technical support for minority and women-owned businesses. 

Brown says Next Street was chosen after the city conducted a national search to find a company that could help guide and grow small businesses.

"We've been able to see firsthand the importance of creating access to services and resources and how transformative that can be not only for entrepreneurs and business owners but in their local communities. And that's everything from helping those firms become certified to eventually winning contracts to accessing capital to purchasing equipment and hiring employees," said Next Street Director Donald Jones. 

Next Street plans to hire an executive director and account manager for its Buffalo Business Advisory Center before it officially opens its doors this fall.