Manhattanville College is stepping up to help small businesses in Westchester County and New York state.
The Purchase college was recently named home of the Westchester Small Business Development Center, which maintains its outreach center in White Plains on Corporate Park Drive, in the offices of the Business Council of Westchester.
The Center, part of the New York State Small Business Development Center, is a business assistance network, working with local and county business development agencies; and providing Small Business Administration expertise to all major financial institutions in Westchester County.
It also gives free, one-on-one business advice and information to existing or aspiring entrepreneurs in New York state, and works with other organizations on projects that advance job development, investment, and economic growth.
“I am delighted that we have joined forces with the SBDC in helping to restart the economy by building on the natural synergies between the educational programs we offer and the skills needed by entrepreneurs as they look to develop their own businesses,” said Anthony Davidson, Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.
Louis Scamardella, who has been with the SBDC for more than 10 years, will be running the Center. He had been running the outreach center since 2007.
The Center produces an annual economic impact of $3 million to $4 million a year through the loans it helps get for small businesses.
“The strong academic environment, diversity, and central Westchester location of Manhattanville College made our choice for a home very easy,” he said. “Also, the involvement of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies in the business community complements our mission perfectly.” Scamardella said future plans include the hiring of Manhattanville students as interns to provide real hands on experience in entrepreneurship, and offering academic courses to the community.
“Our goal is to make this a real center, not just an outreach center (for the center at Rockland Community College),” he said. All centers, he said, are associated with academic institutions. They are funded by the SBA and the state but must be associated with a college since that”™s how the SBA distributes funding, with the college acting as the administrator and host of the center.
