The Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network, hosted by Washington State University, invites small business owners and economic development partners to join the SBDC Day celebration on March 16.
SBDC Day was created in 2017 by the America’s SBDC, the national organization representing 63 statewide or regional networks and more than 1,000 community-based SBDC advising centers across the country.
In 2021, advisors with the Washington SBDC assisted more than 3,461 small business owners through on-going, no-cost, results-oriented assistance. Those business owners credited their SBDC advisor with helping them access more than $107 million in new capital and save or create more than 2,855 jobs. SBDC advisors also presented more than 306 webinars on a variety of topics that were attended by 10,477 business owners and entrepreneurs.
“If your business has benefitted from the assistance of an SBDC business advisor, I invite you to send us a message on social media using #SBDC Day and tagging us at @wsbdc,” said Duane Fladland, state director of the Washington SBDC.
“The pandemic continues to affect businesses in disproportionate ways,” Fladland said, “but throughout these last two years and going forward we know SBDC advising has made a difference for thousands of business owners, their families and the communities where they work and live.”
The Washington SBDC includes more than 35 business advisors and two international trade business advisors located in 24 communities from the Canadian border to the Columbia River and from Pullman to Port Angeles. SBDC advisors provide one-on-one advising, education and research to assist small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to start, grow or buy/sell a business.
SBDCs have also supported small business in ways beyond business development. SBDCs are key partners in disaster recovery, working with the U.S Small Business Administration (SBA), FEMA, and state agencies to improve resiliency and speed recovery in disaster-stricken communities. Whether it is flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes or wildfires, SBDC employees will be staffing business recovery centers and helping to reestablish communities.
The SBDC was created by Congress in 1980 to give small business owners access to expert business advising at no cost to the business owner. Each SBDC network must raise half of its funding from state and local sources, most often institutions of higher education, economic development agencies, and other civic and business organizations. That funding is then matched with funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBDC network in Washington has been hosted by Washington State University since it opened in 1980 and receives both funding and administrative support from WSU.
For more information about the Washington SBDC, go to www.wsbdc.org.
