Allegiance Direct has sent out more than 2 million mailers since its inception in January, but the owners are warming up to grow even more.

The direct marketing firm founded by Scott Faircloth and Megan O’Brien was selected in October as the first tenant in the new Mason Enterprise Center, a business incubator in Leesburg.

“They want to find scaleable businesses that already have some level of success,” Faircloth said of the vetting process for the incubator.

“There is a creative process that takes place there that wouldn’t happen elsewhere,” Marantha Edwards, Leesburg’s economic development manager, told the Times-Mirror when the program was announced in August.

The center will eventually house up to 20 small- to mid-size companies that are preparing to launch into a larger market. As businesses find their way through the initial stages of development, an incubator provides resources that might otherwise elude them. They include services such as an administrator to take their calls and collect mail to the proximity of the Loudoun Small Business Development Center, which provides information on how to get loans or do business with the government.

The first business incubator in the United States opened in 1958, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 1980, there were 15 incubation programs nationwide. In 2006, there were 1,100, according to the National Business Incubation Association.

Leesburg’s incubator will develop in two phases – the temporary location is at 15 North King St. A permanent building will be at 202 Church St. The 10,000- square-foot, three-story office building will also house Leesburg’s Economic Development Department.

Faircloth and O’Brien started Allegiance Direct by working out of their basement or in a coffee shop until they eventually decided that they needed a space of their own.

The incubator will relieve the company of a lot of start-up costs they may not have otherwise been able to afford – namely, access to the Internet, a phone and a printer, Faircloth said.

Currently, the duo shares their workspace with teleworkers, not other entrepreneurs. They plan to be there for only a few years before moving on into their own office space. But, until then, Faircloth hopes other start-up businesses will soon follow in their footsteps, Faircloth said.

“We want to evolve and be invested in other businesses and helping others grow,” Faircloth said.

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce recognized Loudoun County, the Town of Leesburg and George Mason University with a 2010 Virginia Torchbearer Award for their collaborative efforts in creating the business incubator Dec. 6.

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