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How Can My Business Use the SBA’s SBDC

Guest post by: Mash Bonigala

Article Overview: I am like most tax payers and am extremely curious about where my tax dollars go and how they benefit me. Because I run a small business out of my home I am also curious about the Small Business Administration, and how the tax dollars it uses provide benefits to entrepreneurs like me. Recently, I visited the SBA’s website and started looking into the various services they provide.

How Can My Business Use the SBA’s SBDC

I am like most tax payers and am extremely curious about where my tax dollars go and how they benefit me. Because I run a small business out of my home I am also curious about the Small Business Administration, and how the tax dollars it uses provide benefits to entrepreneurs like me. Recently, I visited the SBA’s website and started looking into the various services they provide. The Small Business Development Center or SBDC looked to me to be one of the most valuable of the programs the SBA oversees. According to the SBA’s website this program “offers one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations” Every state has a main or lead office along with several service locations. In total, the SBDC program has 1100 service locations within the United States along with Guam, Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 63 of those offices are considered “lead” and they coordinate the services offered at the rest of the offices. Community colleges, universities, trade schools and local chambers of commerce offices host the vast majority of the offices. The SBA website offers a locator tool for finding the office closest to you.

The funding for SBDC offices is somewhat unique in that it is a true partnership between the public and private sectors. The federal government only pays for up to fifty percent of the budget for each office. Local, private and public sponsors including state governments provide the remainder of the financing. Each center has a director and other paid personnel. In addition, SBDCs volunteer experts provide a significant portion of the labor needed to staff the center. Local business owners and university professors are actively recruited to volunteer their time to consult with the local business community.

The SBDC offers a variety of services that directly address the unique needs of the local town and region. In most offices, the core services include about ten key services. Assisting small businesses with financial planning including grant writing requires a large percentage of the SBDC budget. Specifically, the SBDC provides assistance to small businesses owners working on their applications for Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grants from federal agency. In addition, these offices assist business owners with planning in all phases of their business plan. For prospective business owners, they can assist with engineering and feasibility studies. Many offices additionally, focus on specific groups of potential business owners that include minorities, economically disadvantaged groups, veterans, women and the disabled. Even if you do not belong to one of those groups they offer one-on-one counseling and assistance.

In conclusion, every business owner, whether still in the planning stages or looking to expand an existing business, can benefit from their local SBDC. My next step includes walking into my local SBDC office. When I need assistance with my small business, I now have a proper place to start. I can also offer my knowledge and skills to help my community.

Citation: MLA: "About Us." Small Business Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 June 2010

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Article Tags: sbas, small business administration, tax dollars, tax payers



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