SBDCs in the News

Hey, Mr. President and members of Congress, as long as you're handing out money to huge corporations, how about doing something for small business?

President Bush argued that one reason he's pushing the bailout is to protect the "small business owners ... on Main Street." Well, I live and work on Main Street, and just giving banks a bailout represents another "trickle down" theory. Congress needs to make sure that small businesses are taken care of directly.

Small businesses keep this economy afloat. They create the majority of new jobs; they're fast and flexible. It would take far less than 1 percent of the $700 billion bailout (geez, that's a lot of money) for small businesses to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help re-energize this economy.

Here are some of the things Congress could do immediately for small business and the economy:

A client of Clarion University's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has been named the recipient of a national 2008 Energy Star Small Business Award presented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

Priority Communication, WCED radio in DuBois, received the award from Energy Star, for launching an energy efficiency program that has saved the station nearly $12,000 a year in energy costs. Energy Star presented 10 awards in 2008 nationwide to small businesses, who are working to save energy and prevent pollution while representing excellence in energy efficiency and serving as an example of financial and environmental stewardship.

"Since we started the Pennsylvania SBDC Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP), the Clarion SBDC has provided specific talent to solve environmental problems," said Dr. Woodrow Yeaney, director of Clarion SBDC. "We have come a long way in providing this service and finding recognition for our community service."

WCED's EMAP plan started with Clarion SBDC staff members Corry Riley and Heather Fennessey appearing as guests on a morning talk show hosted by Gary Stormer. During a discussion of energy efficiency opportunities and the Energy Star program, Stormer challenged his guests to perform an energy assessment of the station's building.

Constant Contact^®, Inc., a leading provider of email marketing and online surveys for small organizations, today announced the official launch of its SBDC Program, which is designed to help Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) drive success through improved communications with their more than 1.2 million small business clients.

America’s SBDC Network provides face-to-face business management consulting and training assistance to business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. Constant Contact and SBDCs around the country will be working together to provide educational resources focused on helping small businesses succeed and grow. Additionally, the Constant Contact SBDC Program will provide each of the approximately 1,000 development centers across the country with access to Constant Contact’s email marketing and online survey tools at no cost to communicate more effectively with their clients and communities.