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26 courses in English, Spanish
SBDC offers self-paced webinars for small business owners
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
By Hope Belli Tinney, WSU News
PULLMAN, Wash. - 
Advice on how to create a business plan, brand your business, qualify as a government contractor and much more is now available online—in both English and Spanish—through a partnership between the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and U.S. Bank.
Advice on how to create a business plan, brand your business, qualify as a government contractor and much more is now available online—in both English and Spanish—through a partnership between the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and U.S. Bank.On the Washington SBDC website at wsbdc.org, visitors will be able to choose from 26 different concise, self-paced webinars designed to help small business owners understand the fundamentals of starting and growing a business. All of the webinars are created by Virtual Advisor, an interactive multimedia production company that produces programs for professional development in business, healthcare and education.
"These webinars are a great first step for anyone who wants information on a specific topic or needs an overview of business fundamentals,” said Brett Rogers, state director for the Washington SBDC.
"We are particularly pleased that these webinars are available in Spanish and can be accessed for free at any time,” Rogers said. He said the webinars will be an efficient and effective complement to the free, confidential, one-to-one business advising provided by the Washington SBDC Network of 28 certified business advisors and four export specialists.
Since 2010, the Washington SBDC has been working with a consortium of business and educational partners to provide Spanish-language resources to Washington state’s growing Latino population. Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population in Washington State grew by more than 54 percent, increasing from 441,500 to 684,000 and making Latinos the state’s fastest growing minority group.
Along with the Washington SBDC, others working to improve access to business advising for Latino business owners include Washington State University Extension, the Association of Washington State Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Skagit County’s Latino Business Retention, Mercy Corps and others.
The Virtual Advisor webinars on the WSBDC website are being sponsored by U.S. Bank. Currently more than 20 other SBDC networks in the U.S. are also offering Virtual Advisor webinars.
"Knowing everything a small business owner needs to know to keep operations and sales moving smoothly requires good advice and strong partners,” said Chris Heman, region manager for U.S. Bank in Seattle. "Washington small businesses have both in the SBCD, and we are proud to partner with them to keep important advice flowing to Seattle businesses as public funding for these types of programs has tightened.”
The Washington SBDC promotes economic vitality within Washington communities by providing expert business advising, demand-driven training, and applied research to existing businesses and entrepreneurs. The network is a cooperative effort of Washington State University, other educational institutions, economic development organizations and the US Small Business Administration. To learn more about the Washington SBDC, go to www.wsbdc.org.
U.S. Bank has 88 branches and 1,388 employees in Seattle with 2,422 across the State of Washington. U.S. Bank nearly doubled its small business lending in the market from the beginning of 2008 through the first quarter of 2012. In 2011, small business lending grew 19 percent, and in May 2012 U.S. Bank reached a milestone $1 billion in outstanding balances with small business customers. U.S. Bank recently launched a website for small businesses called Connect at www.usbankconnect.com.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $341 billion in assets as of March 31, 2012, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,080 banking offices in 25 states and 5,061 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp and its employees are dedicated to improving the communities they serve, for which the company earned the 2011 Spirit of America Award, the highest honor bestowed on a company by United Way. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at www.usbank.com.
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