A public-private venture that provides financial and technical assistance to businesses with 500 or fewer employees will have a significantly expanded presence in Fairfield County as part of a new partnership with the University of Connecticut.
UConn will host the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for the next five years, taking over from the Connecticut State University System, and will be assisted by economic development officials and chambers of commerce from across the state.
Previously, the lead SBDC office was at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, with seven satellite offices, including one in Bridgeport. Under the new regime, SBDC counselors will be dispersed across 11 service centers, including ones in Bridgeport, Danbury and Stamford.
The SBDC, which will be based at UConn”™s Storrs campus, is being led on an interim basis by Mary Holz-Clause, vice president of economic development for UConn, and Chris Bruhl, president and CEO of the Business Council of Fairfield County.
With more than 23 public and private organizations offering advising services to Connecticut small businesses, those involved in the revamping of the SBDC noted the difficulties business owners face in determining which organization to go to for assistance.
But with UConn as host institution, Bruhl said the state hopes to create a more unified network of services.
“The hosts now are expected to be and will be active partners,” Bruhl said. “This is a statewide effort and from our perspective, it really is energizing.”
In Fairfield County, full-time SBDC counselors will be at UConn”™s Stamford campus, the Danbury Chamber of Commerce and Bridgeport Regional Business Council. A coordinator for the region”™s business programs will also be housed at the Business Council”™s office.
The SBDC program, with more than 900 offices nationwide, was pioneered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as a means of providing business assistance ”” often at little or no cost ”” to business owners and entrepreneurs.
Under federal law, each state”™s SBDC must be hosted by a university system or a regional women”™s business development center.
Connecticut”™s SBDC will be funded for the next five years through $11.6 million in federal and state grants, with UConn and the chambers of commerce providing additional financial and technical resources.
SBDC staff will work with the SBA and the Connecticut Women”™s Business Development Council to help business owners develop strategies, secure financing and procure contracts, in addition to offering specialists in international trade, e-commerce and regulatory compliance.
In another shift, SBDC staff is now being encouraged to coordinate with representatives of more than a dozen other organizations, such as the Connecticut Technology Council or the Community Economic Development Fund, that have been identified as ideal partners for small business.
Bruhl said this would help businesses to navigate the system ”” and at no cost.
“These certainly are very worthwhile services for small businesses but it”™s very hard for small businesses to know of them,” said Bruhl.
Bruhl credited Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, whose agenda includes expanding the bioscience, engineering and technology industries in Connecticut, with having a more hands-on role in economic development and with helping to raise awareness and energy around the state”™s business assistance programs.
“As all of these things lift off they will be nicely aligned,” Bruhl said. “The SBDC, with the new bid solicitation, had the opportunity to add a coordinating element that hadn”™t been there.”
UConn won a bid to host the SBDC last year, after the state university system had served as host since 2007.
“When we talk about building a new partnership between state government and the business community, this is exactly what we mean,” Malloy said in a statement. “The reinvigorated Small Business Development Center takes our economic development strategy to a new level, combining the academic strength and resources of our flagship university with the knowledge and reach of our chambers of commerce, to bring technical and financial assistance to the sector responsible for the overwhelming majority of our jobs: small businesses.”
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