SPOKANE, Wash.Linda Johnson, a Washington State University business advisor for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was honored as the State Star for Washington at the national conference of the Association of Small Business Development Centers earlier this month in Chicago.
Johnson, who works from an SBDC office co-located with the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce and the Yakima County Development Association, earned the recognition for her body of work in 2007, for being an exemplary performer, making a significant contribution to the Washington SBDC program, and showing a strong commitment to small business in Yakima.
“I am pleased to make this announcement, and to recognize Linda for extraordinary contributions to the work of the SBDC and small business in Washington,” said Brett Rogers, State Director for the Washington SBDC network. “She and her peers around the state demonstrate capability and commitment to small business clients every day.”
Johnson worked with 116 clients in 2007 helping them access more than $2 million in capital and create or retain 29 jobs. She was also actively engaged in fund-raising for a minority women and children program, assisted in strengthening the technical expertise of the local SCORE Chapter, worked with neighboring communities on business education needs and opportunities and taught several of the classes that were needed in her community to support business growth.
Johnson also pioneered the first SBDC regional business conference using the expertise of her peers around the state to deliver small business training to Central Washington businesses and shared her lessons learned with the network at large to promote replication of the model.
“It is an honor to accept this award and to have the opportunity to help so many people achieve the dream of starting and succeeding in their own business,” said Johnson.
Johnson holds an MBA degree from Washington State University (1987) and earned her CPA designation in 1997. She joined the Washington Small Business Development Center in 2006.
About the SBDC
America’s Small Business Development Center Network is a partnership uniting private enterprise, government, higher education and local nonprofit economic development organizations. It is the Small Business Administration’s largest partnership program, providing management and technical assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their own businesses. With about 1,000 centers across the nation, America’s SBDC network provided business consulting to approximately 200,000 clients, training for more than 400,000 attendees, and other forms of management and technical assistance to approximately 600,000 small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs last year.
For more information on the mission and services of the SBDC visit the network Web site at https://www.wsbdc.org.
