Office of Small Business Development Centers

A Network of Training and Counseling Services

Antonio Doss, Associate Administrator

Jean Smith, Deputy Associate Administrator

                 SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SBDC) PROGRAM

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs a wide array of technical assistance support which helps strengthen business performance and sustainability and adds to the creation of new businesses entities.  These small businesses in turn foster local and regional economic development through job creation and retention as a result of the extensive one-on-one long-term counseling, training and specialized services they receive from the SBDCs.  The SBDCs exist from a unique collaboration of SBA funding combined with state and private sector resources. 

SBDCs provide services such as development of business plans, manufacturing assistance, financial packages, procurement contracts and international trade assistance. Special emphasis areas include e-commerce, technology transfer, IRS, EPA and OSHA regulatory compliance, research and development, defense economic transition assistance, disaster recovery assistance and market research.  Based on client needs assessments, business trends and individual business requirements, SBDCs modify their services to meet the evolving needs of the small business community in their location.

SBDCs deliver management and technical assistance to small businesses utilizing an effective business education network of 63 Lead Centers which branch out with nearly 950 delivery points  throughout the U.S., the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. SBDCs provide assistance within a state or designated geographical area. These 63 Lead Centers are entities established by the host applicant to manage a SBDC program and establish the service provider network  throughout their state or region. 

SBDC assistance is available virtually anywhere; from rural circuit riders to aerial  counselors serving isolated Native Alaskan villages to marine services in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Some centers are located at Chambers of Commerce, Empowerment Zones, Women’s Business Centers, and Specialty Centers with special emphasis such as Manufacturing, Technology, International Trade, Procurement and Defense related issues. Lead Center SBDCs hosts include:

·         48 university sponsored Lead SBDCs

16 SBDC’s located at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Two centers are Lead SBDC centers, Howard University in Washington, D.C. and the University of the Virgin Islands, U.S.V.I.).

·         8 community college sponsored Lead SBDCs

Dallas-TX, UT, OR, NM, AZ, San Diego-CA, Los Angeles, CA, and American Samoa

·         7 state-sponsored Lead SBDCs (CO, IL, IN, MN, MT, OH, & WV).

*Since 1990 Congress has required all new Lead SBDCs to be managed by institutions of higher education or women’s business centers.

SBDC services are available to all small business populations.  There are specialized programs for minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities, 8(a) firms in all stages, as well as individuals in low and moderate income urban and rural areas.  In fact, in FY 2005, 42% of SBDC counseling clients were women, 18% were minorities, and 7% were veterans. As for training in FY 2005, 43% of SBDC clients were women, 20% were minorities, and 7% were veterans.

As the SBA’s largest non-finance program, SBDCs meet the counseling and training needs of more than 700,000 start-up or existing business clients annually. In Fiscal Year 2005, SBDC in-depth clients created over 78,000 new jobs and retained over 131,000 additional jobs. 

To find the nearest SBDC to you, go to http://www.sba.gov/SBDC/sbdcnear.html.