State's SBDCs appear to be regaining health
Harriet Parker is happy to be back as the manager of the reborn Illinois Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College's downtown Aurora campus.
In fact, if plans went as planned - and depending somewhat on when you're reading this column - the Waubonsee SBDC reopened this morning.
Mark Petrilli is happy Parker is back, too. He is state director of the Illinois SBDC Network, and the rebirth of the Waubonsee center is another indication that Illinois' SBDC network is getting healthy again. "We're starting to stabilize," Petrilli said last month. "Our host organizations have been very nervous over the past two years" when the legislature and the governor couldn't agree on budget issues.
Perhaps most importantly, the small businesses that exist in or near the Waubonsee Community College district should be happy, too - especially entrepreneurial hopefuls seeking start up advice. Parker already has two Starting Your Business classes scheduled: Next week, Wednesday, April 11 and, later, Thursday, May 17.
Also scheduled is an SBA Lender Forum on Wednesday, May 9.
Waubonsee is headquartered in Sugar Grove and has additional campuses at Aurora Fox Valley and Plano, but its SBDC is based at the college's downtown Aurora campus. For times and other registration information, call (630) 906-4143.
SBDCs provide a variety of support, mostly free, to small businesses. Typically, seminars and often valuable one-on-one business advice and assistance cover such small business issues as business plans, including the discussion that goes beforehand; financial analysis and planning; and a variety of staff and management training - the types of support small businesses tend to need.
In Illinois, the SBDC program runs through the state's Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. Funding comes via the U.S. Small Business Administration, the state and host organizations. In Illinois, host organizations often are educational institutions.
Although Petrilli acknowledges the Illinois SBDC Network lost 15 organizations that had one type of role or another, certainly not every SBDC closed. In the suburbs, for example, SBDCs at Harper College (Palatine); College of DuPage (Lisle) and College of Lake County (Grayslake) were among those that had the resources to continue operation.
And, of course, many others searched out and developed resources to remain open. On its website, the SBDC at Sauk Valley Community College (Dixon) lists 16 community-based sponsors.
SBDCs at Elgin Community College, Joliet Junior College and Governors State University (University Park) closed and have not reopened.
There obviously are gaps in the Illinois SBDC Network - most of the gaps are in the southeastern part of the state - but the current web listing shows 31 Small Business Development Centers in the state. Some, such as the SBDC at the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, are within the same geography as their predecessors but with a new sponsor and new location.
You can find the most up-to-date list, including about a dozen SBDCs in Chicago, at http://www.blipstar.com/blipstarplus/viewer/blipstar.php?uid=5161672.
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