WSU prioritizes Small Business Development Centers in 2016 Legislative Session

Local efforts to keep the doors open at the Small Business Development Center in Snohomish County show it to be a resource worth keeping.

For 34 years the center has assisted local businesses and entrepreneurs with technical support, development, and consultations at no cost, but nearly closed last year due to a lack of funding. Resources have been pulled together to keep it open in the near term and efforts are underway to put it on solid financial ground into the future, as reported by the Herald Business Journal.

This comes as WSU is pursuing a $1 million ask to expand Small Business Development Center service in areas of highest need — Olympia, South Seattle, Vancouver, the Bellevue/Redmond/Issaquah area and the Klickitat/Skamania county region.

WSU is operating 25 such centers across the state in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Advisors provide confidential, objective, and tailored guidance at no cost to small business owners and nascent entrepreneurs.

In 2014, SBDC advisors met with over 2,700 clients to deliver customized business advising which resulted in 1,127 jobs and helped secure $41 million in new capital to grow businesses. Go to wsbdc.org for more information.