 Marketing
A Business Advisor from the Pace SBDC was featured in a weekly series of articles about “Cómo iniciar su propio negocio” (“How to start your own business”) that appeared in El Diario/La Prensa between December 4 and December 8, 2006. The topics included Analice primero sus finanzas” (Analyze your personal finances); Investigue el mercado objetivo” (Research your target market); “Escriba un ‘Plan de Negocio” (Write a Business Plan); “Solicite asistencia financiera” (Finding assistance to get funded); “Es difícil, pero se puede”(It is not easy but you can do it). In addition, the same Business Advisor was interviewed live on a TV program called “Contacto” which appeared on the Spanish-language cable network La Familia Cosmovision on December 6th. The Advisor spoke about SBDC services and SBA programs.
In December 2005, representatives of the Canton SBDC met with the President of Governeur Savings and Loan and two commercial loan officers to discuss partnership opportunities. The meeting resulted in a better understanding of the type of commercial loan projects that would interest GS&L. GS&L had a refresher on SBDC services and the funding that supports the SBDC program. GS&L stated that they are interested in sponsoring an SBDC training event and requested information about upcoming workshops. |
Program Development: Products and Services
The Pace SBDC is participating in an SBA initiative in Washington Heights organized by the SBA Marketing Specialist in the NYC District Office. The initiative features SBDC services provided on-site at the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Economic Development on a regular basis. Business Advisors from the Pace SBDC and the Baruch SBDC will provide counseling in Spanish for the predominantly Dominican community living in Washington Heights.
The SBDC at Onondaga Community College is now offering business advisement during the evening. A Business Advisor is available from 4:30 pm-8 pm each evening to meet with clients, either at the college or at a place more convenient for the client, for example, the Chamber of Commerce or the South Side Innovation Center. |
In Fall 2006, the Child Council of Suffolk approached a SBDC Farmingdale Business Advisor to create a Spanish language Business Basics workshop for child care providers, both home-based and center based. The Advisor will research, write and present this workshop to members of the Child Care Council and the providers themselves. There will be one “Train the Trainer” workshop conducted for bilingual members of the Child Care Council of Suffolk staff in order to ensure future ability to perform the workshop. Additionally, there will be two workshops conducted for Spanish speaking providers, one out of the Council’s headquarters in Commack and the other at the east end outreach center in Riverhead. These will be given during the evening hours to facilitate the greatest number of participants.
Professional Development & Staff Retention
In March 2006, Jamestown SBDC staff attended a lecture on Successful Tourism by Robert A. Brooks, author of “The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism” sponsored by the Chautauqua County Visitors’ Bureau (CCVB). The lecture was attended by all of the economic development agencies and groups in the county as well as several tourism-related businesses and service providers. The SBDC obtained a great deal of information that will be useful for advising small businesses that want to tap into this industry.
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Sponsors, Host Institutions, Partners and Alliances
The Director of the Onondaga SBDC and Onondaga Community College’s Associate Vice President of Corporate and Extended Learning participated in an NYS Assembly Roundtable. The November 20 th roundtable was coordinated by Joan Christensen, Chair of the Assembly Commission on Skills Development and Career Education. The topic was the role of state programs for micro-business assistance in developing the upstate economy.
Technology
In November, the DETA Advisors from Farmingdale and Stony Brook attended the Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference presented by the Pennsylvania SBDC at Dusquesne University. Topics of the breakout sessions included enterprise business processes, business intelligence, e-marketing, IT management, mobile wireless technologies and network security. Several vendors demonstrated their technologies at the vendor showcase. The keynote speaker for the event was Pennsylvania congressman Michael Doyle.
Special Projects
The State Director of the NYS SBDC and the State Directors from PA and OH organized an educational conference for their statewide DETA Advisors. New York was represented by the State Director and DETA Advisors from Binghamton, Albany, Farmingdale, and Stony Brook. The participants discussed and reviewed best practices; regionalized special areas of expertise; developing processes for advisor relationships between state programs; and the next steps and direction of the DETA program.
The Onondaga SBDC collaborated with the Syracuse University Whitman School of Business in the class project of the Capstone course, Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management. Twenty teams of 5 students each met with one of the SBDC Business Advisors, who provided feedback on the business plans the teams were developing. Feedback from the business advisors, faculty and the over 100 students was very positive, and this has now been worked into the team process for the spring semester. |
All SBDC directors and advisors across the state were asked to consider volunteering their time to provide counseling assistance to small business owners affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Several individuals from across the state responded. Two representatives of the Mohawk Valley SBDC were selected, based on prior experience with disaster assistance. Their work in New Orleans lasted two weeks, and during this time they assisted small business owners at the FEMA/SBA Disaster Center in Metairie, LA, a suburb of New Orleans. The two Business Advisors provided in-depth advisement to more than 30 clients during their stay. The clients counseled represented the extremes encountered after such a disaster, from desperate victims with hopeless situations to promising business start-ups with terrific prospects for success.
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SPD Gazette