SPD Gazette
Week of January 1, 2007
Issue 16
 
 

Training: Formal and Informal

One of the core strategies of the NYS SBDC Strategic Plan is “Professional Development and Recognition”. The strategic plan states that we must do a better job of identifying the resources and programs that will enhance and continuously develop the skills, knowledge, and creative and critical thinking skills of the staff.

In order to provide the best advisement possible for our clients, we need to keep in touch with the issues relevant to them. In other words, we need to know our customer’s needs and requirements. As the issues evolve and become priorities for our clients, the advisors’ knowledge has to evolve and grow.

Orientation is the first step of training when an individual joins the SBDC network. The individual and his or her supervisor share the responsibility of making sure he or she has the information and tools needed to do the job. The information needed by clients is continually changing with the evolution of small business and technology. Since the scope of knowledge needed is dynamic, the individual’s acquisition of knowledge must be similarly dynamic.

Therefore, the SBDC has an ongoing process for staff development. Some of the knowledge comes from working with clients and co-workers to resolve issues – in other words, informal on the job training. Other knowledge comes from more formalized seminars and workshops. All SBDC staff are encouraged to take advantage of educational opportunities in their region. Regional seminars and workshops might be sponsored by the host campus, Chamber of Commerce, SBA resource partner, professional or business association, government agency, or other organization with a small business focus.

Once a year, individuals from throughout the SBDC network meet for 2 days of educational sessions at the staff training conference. The staff training event provides formal and informal learning opportunities with formal sessions, best practice forums, and person-to-person networking.

Why do we emphasize continuous learning? When SBDC directors, advisors, and support staff broaden and deepen their knowledge, the network has a deeper base of knowledge and expertise. The strength of the network is in the diversity of its staff’s educational and work backgrounds, as well as in the expertise developed while the advisor works through the resolution of small business issues with SBDC clients. The shared knowledge of the SBDC staff is one of the things that sets it apart from other small business assistance providers.

“Balance doing with learning.”

What's New This Week

Marketing

In mid-April, Professor Allen Wright and his communications class from Ithaca College staged and taped a 30-minute television show called "Mind Your Own Business" in which the Binghamton SBDC director, an advertising executive from Skaneateles, and a venture capitalist from Syracuse formed the judging panel. Three small business companies presented their answers to the question: "If you had $50,000, how would you spend it to further your business?" The winning company advanced to the next round of judging and so on until one company actually won the competition for a prize of $50,000. The taping took about 4 hours, the results were edited into a 25 minute show and the results were shared with WCNY, the public television channel in Syracuse.

The Director and a Business Advisor from the Onondaga SBDC appeared on “Hour CNY,” a live, daily TV talk program, to discuss small business in Central New York on November 6th.

Professional Development & Staff Retention

Staff from the SBDC at OCC participated in a workshop presented by Deborah Streeter, the Bruce F. Failing Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cornell University on “Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture in Your Workplace” on November 2nd.

 

Program Development: Products and Services

The City of Yonkers, a major supporter of the Westchester SBDC, announced a program to foster and encourage participation by the city’s minority businesses in purchases made by the city. While not a quota program, the effort focuses on broader announcements, increased direct solicitation by city purchasing of minority suppliers and contractors, and new reporting requirements for major contractors. As part of the effort, the Westchester SBDC is developing a specific training program for minority business owners to provide information on a range of relevant topics including completing the MWBE application, developing the marketing skills needed to participate in the bid process, preparing bid documentation, and preparing businesses for the access to capital and bonding mandated by city contracts.

The Jamestown SBDC, in collaboration with the Women’s Business Center at Census College, launched a Women-In-Networking group in May 2006. Approximately 20 area women business owners meet every month to network and listen to short presentations on entrepreneurial topics. Group participants report on opportunities generated as a result of their participation.

 

Technology

Using a grant received from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Jamestown SBDC is working with the campus to implement an online Entrepreneurship I01 course. This is quite an involved process and the SBDC is receiving a great deal of assistance from several members of the Jamestown Community College faculty who have been involved with the development of other online courses. The target is to have the course ready to launch for the spring 2007 semester.

Sponsors, Host Institutions, Partners and Alliances

For the second year in a row, a graduate of the University at Albany MBA program sponsored two internships with Albany SBDC client companies for the 2005-06 academic years. The grant program illustrates the highly collaborative relationship between the University and SBDC. Last year the program was extremely successful in providing export opportunities to China for Solid Sealing, a high- tech ceramic sealer of electronics, and Jonathan West, a company that exports NY style clothing to China. The Albany SBDC will renew the program for the current academic year.

On December 6th the Midtown Manhattan SBDC hosted an event entitled “Investing in India.” Featured speakers Sativa Wahl (Founder & Managing Director of Magritte Communications), A.R. Ghanashyam (Deputy Consul General Consulate General of India) and Anil Gulati (Consultant, Coda Capital) discussed financial and social venture opportunities within the country. Participants were not only enlightened regarding business investment strategies but on the importance of cultural interactions and how to avoid cultural collisions with Indian clients and prospective partners. The forum provided an opportunity for students, investors and entrepreneurs to network and interact with market leaders.

 

Special Projects

The State Director met with Directors from Albany, Utica and Westchester to develop and storyboard a streaming video project to help small businesses navigate the SUNY, state and federal procurement processes. The project is intended to provide a 24/7 point of access for small business to learn about procurement and how to access the opportunities it presents. Planned segments in the project include tracking a purchase from development of the requirement to issuance of the bid documents to receipt of bid submissions to closure on a contract. Other segments will provide detailed information on MWBE certification, accessing non-bed purchase opportunities, accessing procurement ‘catalog’ and standards systems like OGS and GSA, and, ‘How To’ segments on becoming a bidder, preparing and submitting bids, being a ‘responsible bidder’, and, making ‘sales calls’ where and when appropriate. Throughout the presentation viewers will be given links to forms, instructions and specific agency/product/service sites within the procurement arena. A significant new aspect of the presentation with be the addition of ‘decision trees’ to direct minority, women owned and small businesses to the specific areas of opportunity, forms and registrations pertinent to their small business.

Using streaming media technologies for the presentation will enable minority, disadvantaged and small businesses to learn the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of procurement while utilizing links and decision trees to tailor the data presented to their particular business. The SBDC has developed this project to help MWBE, DBE and small businesses to be more capable of accessing and capitalizing on procurement opportunities; serves the interests of the University, state and federal purchasing agencies by increasing the pool of qualified, responsible bidders; leverages resources through the joint efforts of the University, agencies and the SBDC; and, enhances SBDC delivery of assistance to small business through 24/7 access to detailed, practical technical assistance.

Do You Have a Comment About the SPD Gazette?

Is there a topic you would like to see in the Gazette? Send your comments to mary.hoffman@nysbdc.org.
About the Gazette

The SPD Gazette is a brief newsletter distributed via email and posted on the Internal Web Site. It will feature a column to be titled, What’s New This Week, in which the network will share best practices in strategic objectives. A series of articles in the Gazette will explain the program’s statewide approach to strategic objectives in six key areas:

• Marketing
• Professional Development and Certification
• Program Development: Products and Services
• Special Projects
• Strategic Partners and Alliances
• Technology, Information and Communication

For more information or answers to your questions, call Tom Morley at 914-375-2107or email him at SPD@Mercy.edu

Send your report forms to SPD@mercy.edu

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