JOHNSON CITY – (Oct. 15, 2021) Debbie Smith, owner of U.S. Respiratory, LLC, and member of the ETSU Innovation Lab, has successfully graduated and opened a new location in Gray, Tennessee. A “graduate” from a business incubator is one that has made significant progress toward meeting their milestones and reached a level of capacity, growth and stability that will ensure their success in the community at large.
U.S. Respiratory became a member of the Innovation Lab in 2014 and was awarded the Rising Star Award that year from the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at ETSU. This award is given annually by the TSBDC to the company that best exemplifies not only business success but an outstanding working relationship with the TSBDC and use of the services it provides.
Since the start of their business journey, U.S. Respiratory grew to add an additional
two full time respiratory therapists and two staff members, which Smith said was possible
due to the resources and support of the Innovation Lab. 
“I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to start my business at the Innovation Lab,” Smith said. “It prepared me for success by having the opportunity to present my business plan and goals I wished to reach, along with a very reasonably priced space to start. Within a few years, we went from renting one suite to renting three. At this point it was a good time to grow into the community. By starting my business at the Innovation Lab, I was able to purchase and pay off a considerable amount of medical equipment used for home rentals and also build up a client base that supports the operations and staff to run a successful business. We look forward to serving the community for many years to come.”
Smith is a registered respiratory therapist with 23 years of industry experience. The company’s focus is to provide clinical excellence through education and specialized respiratory support services to help patients breathe better and have improved quality of life. U.S. Respiratory provides ongoing support to patients with chronic lung disease to decrease hospitalizations.
“It has been exciting to see Debbie grow her business and meet the milestone goals that she set forth in her original business plan to hire one to three more respiratory therapists,” Innovation Lab Assistant Director Liz Bennett said. “She provides a great service to the community and has added great staff to her team. We are thrilled to see Debbie take this next step and expect U.S. Respiratory to continue growing in their new location.”
The new U.S. Respiratory office is located at 144 Old Gray Station Rd., Suite 100, in Gray and may be reached by phone at 423-979-8473. Smith may be reached at dsmith@usrespiratory.com.
The ETSU Innovation Lab is a high-tech business incubator that assists aspiring entrepreneurs from concept through commercialization. For more information, visit etsu.edu/ilab or contact Dr. Audrey Depelteau, director of the Innovation Lab, at depelteau@etsu.edu.
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