SPOKANE, Wash. – Small Business Development Center (SBDC) business advisors provided one-on-one advising to more than 2,800 small business owners across the state of Washington in 2011, helping them secure more than $31 million in capital and create or save more than 720 jobs.
With 28 advisors working in 25 communities, the Washington SBDC network is part of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s national network of more than 1,000 business development centers that provide no cost one-on-one advising, training and other resources to help small businesses start, expand and thrive. Washington State University is a partner in the SBDC.
“Washington SBDC certified business advisors have been providing assistance to business owners in our state for more than 30 years,” said WSBDC State Director Brett Rogers, “but their work has never been more important than it is now.”
When the economy collapsed in 2007, Rogers said, SBDC business advisors were on the front lines of helping small business owners regroup and retool to meet the challenges of an extremely difficult business environment.
From 2008 to 2010, SBDC clients saw sales increase an average of 3.7 percent, Rogers said, while other Washington businesses declined an average of 1 percent. In addition, SBDC clients increased staffing by 13.5 percent, while other Washington businesses cut staff by an average of 2.3 percent.
According to a 2011 independent audit of Washington SBDC economic impacts by James Chrisman, a professor in the College of Business at Mississippi State College, for every dollar invested in the WSBDC in 2009, clients generated an additional $2.45 in tax revenues. Furthermore, Chrisman reported that SBDC clients secured nearly $26 million in financing that year, meaning that every dollar invested in the WSBDC was leveraged by approximately $6.30 in new capital from external sources.
The SBDC was founded in 1979 as a partnership between the U.S. Small Business Administration, U.S. colleges and universities and economic development agencies. It now features more than 1,000 SBDC centers with networks in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. Territories.
A recent report by the National Small Business Development Advisory Board highlights the importance of the SBDC in helping to drive economic development in communities across the country.
“SBA’s Small Business Development Centers give new and growing small businesses the resources they need throughout the year to grow and create jobs,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The soundness of our economy depends on stable small businesses across the country and SBDCs are front and center helping entrepreneurs start, grow and expand their companies. These institutions reflect the diversity and individuality of their nearly 900 home towns and play an active and vital role in those.”
The report confirms that SBA’s SBDC program remains an essential part of the agency’s mission to help small businesses. The report, “The SBDC Program: An Indispensable Partner in America’s Economic Development,” demonstrates statistically the prolonged impact that SBA-funded SBDCs have on the formation and growth of small businesses. The report can be viewed online here.
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A key finding of the report is that SBDCs help local economies by improving the odds for startup small businesses. “SBDCs,” the report says, “are solely focused on creating and supporting small businesses which in turn pay taxes, provide employment and diversify the economic base for their states. . . The businesses that work with the SBDCs are the job creators and enterprises that have the potential for survival and growth.”
The report also highlights the effectiveness of SBDC counseling in improving the chances of small businesses that are seeking credit. “SBDCs have intimate knowledge of what lenders really want and need from borrowers to increase the likelihood of them being able to make a loan. The SBDC Business Advisors provide solid technical expertise to coach borrowers through the lending process.”
The report also found that the SBDC program, for which the federal government covers half the cost, remains one of the government’s best investments because of its close associations with other SBA resource partners, federal, state and local government small business assistance programs and service providers; universities and community colleges; and private enterprise and local nonprofit economic development organizations.
The nine-member independent advisory board provides advice and counsel to the SBA Administrator and associate administrator for the Office of Small Business Development Centers on the SBDC program.
Last year, more than 557,000 entrepreneurs received business advice and technical assistance through the SBDC program. In its more than 30-year history, SBDCs have assisted millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs to successfully start and grow small firms by fostering entrepreneurship and growth through innovation and efficiency.