May 03, 2018

SIU’s Small Business Development Center celebrates successes during National Small Business Week

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — During National Small Business Week, the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale wants small businesses to know they are not alone. The SBDC offers a variety of services to help the region’s small businesses thrive.

Services available for all

Services include assistance with starting or expanding a business, utilizing new technology and expanding into additional markets. Business owners can get one-on-one professional consulting, training and workshops, and more.

Helping for decades

The SBDC at SIU has been helping new and expanding businesses since 1984. The center earned the Roger Luman Program Excellence Award from the Illinois Entrepreneurship and Small Business Growth Association in 2015 in recognition of the outstanding and innovative services and programs it provides to entrepreneurs and small businesses.

For additional information about the SBDC and the many services it provides to new and growing businesses, visit the website at www.sbdc.siu.edu or contact Greg Bouhl at gbouhl@biz.siu.edu or 618/536-2424.

Success – by the numbers

In 2017 alone, SIU’s award-winning center:

  • Assisted 222 clients.
  • Provided 1,309 hours of free advising.
  • Hosted numerous business management training sessions.

Those efforts resulted in:

  • The creation or retention of 36 businesses.
  • A total of 154 jobs that were either created or saved.
  • Local businesses being able to secure $4.6 million in funding.

SIU joins the nationwide celebration

The U.S. Small Business Administration celebrates National Small Business Week April 29-May 5 this year.

Nationally, clients of the country’s small business development centers start a new business every 30 minutes, create a new job every 5.5 minutes and generate $100,000 in new sales every 8.2 minutes while raising $100,000 in capital every 10 minutes, according to federal officials.

They also note that the job growth for SBDC clients is 13 times greater than that of the average business and client sales growth is nearly four times higher than general business growth. 

Funding provided by SBA

SIU Carbondale hosts the Illinois Small Business Development Center with funding provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help entrepreneurs in Southern Illinois start and growth successful businesses.