SBDC Biz Buzz Quarterly
brought to you by the Washington Small Business Development Center
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A resource for those who care about small business |
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WASHINGTON SBDC REFLECTS DIVERSITY OF EVERGREEN STATE |
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We are stronger together. If you’ve ever questioned that truism, I invite you to attend WEDA’s Advocacy Day at the state capital. I was there yesterday and it was incredibly inspiring. When I joined the Washington SBDC more than a decade ago, I heard grumblings from some of our stakeholders and resource partners that small business development got no respect in Olympia. If it was true then, it’s not true now. The legislators and staff I spoke with were passionate about the importance of small business development and I'm excited about our on-going work together. Thank you to Suzanne Dale Estey and WEDA for being so collaborative in their advocacy work.
Along with many of you who attended Advocacy Day, I had good news to share. According to an independent survey of SBDC clients in 2022, the ROI on SBDC advising in Washington state was $5 to $1. Our business advisors provided one-on-one advising to 3,000 business owners and entrepreneurs in 2022. Those clients reported that the SBDC provided substantial assistance that enabled them to secure more than $115 million in capital and create or save more than 3,000 jobs. According to clients, sales increased by $122M because of their work with an SBDC advisor, which of course added millions to the state coffers.
As someone who has been involved with the SBDC program for more than 30 years, I am incredibly proud of the work that we do in Washington State and across the country.
In 2022, we heard loud and clear that the SBA is putting a high priority on outreach to women, minority communities and rural communities, which validated many of the strategic decisions we had already made and will buttress our commitment to other inclusivity initiatives going forward.
For instance, we now have at least nine business advisors who are bilingual/bicultural, and seven of them are women. We have significantly improved our ability to work with Spanish-speaking clients and are now working to expand services to other entrepreneurs or business owners who face barriers because of language fluency or physical disability.
Our mission remains the same, but our staff is far more reflective of the diversity of Washington State and the business community. In 2010, we had 21 business advisors, three of them were women and one was a person of color. In 2022, we have 43 business advisors, 23 are women and 17 are people of color. We also have staff who identify as part of the LBGTQ community.
For all that has been accomplished, there is still much to do. Improving access to SBDC services for people furthest from opportunity is an ongoing concern, but in Washington State we are committed to improving client success as well. Once a business owner starts working with an SBDC advisor, we want to make sure they have the tools, resources and support they need to achieve their loftiest ambitions.
For more than 40 years, the SBDC has been a trusted resource for small business men and women of every race, creed and color seeking to improve their lives through America’s free enterprise system. Thank you for your support in this important endeavor.
Sincerely,
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WASHINGTON SBDC ANNUAL REPORT |
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Stories matter and our 2023 Washington SBDC annual report is chock-a-block with small business success stories. From the family-focused entrepreneur who left a well-paying job as a salesman to open his own business that now employs more than 20 people to the entrepreneur owner who started out selling books from her garage while still in college and now has 30 employees, tens of thousands of books in her 10,000 sf store and is working toward buying her own building.
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$115,846,868
Total
New Capital
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Client reported impacts in 2022 |
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WASHINGTON SBDC CLIENT SUCCESS |
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"People starting a business don't always know all that they will need. More information is always good, and talking with someone like Taryn Hornby [SBDC business advisor] helps you know what you need and how to achieve it."
- Michael Dechand, owner
True Blue Roofing
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ADVISOR SPOTLIGHT: LORENA LOWELL |
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Lorena Lowell, the SBDC business advisor in Goldendale and Stevenson, works hard to meet clients where they are.
In common with other SBDC business advisors, she’s not going to do the work for the business owner, but she will provide assistance and support them every step of the way.
In response to a recent survey, one of Lorena’s clients wrote:
“The SBDC has given me confidence to maintain my established business while investigating ways to expand. My advisor's experience and contacts have been invaluable.”
In client surveys, business owners often talk about getting help with business plans, loan packages and marketing. But in a Word Cloud of the benefits of SBDC advising, the largest word would be “CONFIDENCE,” followed closely by “INVALUABLE.”
Before joining the SBDC, most of Lorena’s professional career was in creating and managing business start-ups. She has more than 25 years’ experience in business management, finances and marketing for for-profit and non-profit organizations. She has an MBA, a BA in marketing and advertising and a minor in economic development and tourism.
A native Spanish-speaker, Lorena often plays a cross-cultural, bilingual role on projects and boards in her community and at the national level.
Lorena is an avid cook and also enjoys outdoors activities, travel, yoga, reading, and gardening. She has two adult children.
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SBDC Day is a national, collective proclamation of the impact America's Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) have on economic development and the small business community.
The seventh annual SBDC Day will take place on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
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Mark your calendars for this year's National Small Business Week (NSBW). We look forward to celebrating our outstanding entrepreneurs and small business owners. NSBW will take place April 30 - May 6.
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Washington SBDC training provides practical, real-life solutions tailored for the entrepreneur and facilitated by knowledgeable business professionals.
Upcoming Workshops:
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February 7
February 14
February 16
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For a complete listing of upcoming workshops, webinars and on-demand training, click here!
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Network News
Since the last Biz Buzz newsletter, we have had several staffing changes:
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Christy Mastin has join the SBDC in Kennewick as our third international trade business advisor. She'll be co-located with Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce. Prior to joining the SBDC, Christy worked in international sales and was also a lending officer for 16 years.
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Phon Sivongxay has returned to the Washington SBDC at Highline College after being away for about a year. A former banker, she's a huge asset to our network and we're thrilled she's back.
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SharonAnn Hamilton has been named the new business advisor in Port Angeles and Port Townsend, where she joins SBDC advisors Rick Dickinson and Micah Jonet. SharonAnn comes to the SBDC with 30+ years as a certified financial planner.
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Blacked-Owned Business Excellence Symposium 2023
On Feb. 1, more than 500 people from across the state attended the fourth annual Black-Owned Business Excellence (BOBE) symposium, both in-person and virtually, to kick off Black History Month. BOBE was launched in 2020 by a consortium of organizations, agencies and business owners, including the Washington SBDC, to support, educate, inspire and elevate businesses that are owned by underserved business owners in Washington.
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RESOURCE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT:
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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The Washington SBDC international trade team and Washington State Department of Agriculture have teamed up to host an outbound trade mission to Hong Kong and Taipei in April. They are currently recruiting 15 Washington businesses that produce cider, distilled spirits, beer or wine to participate in this initiative.
Deadline to register is Feb. 24.
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CRIMSON CORNER:
FORMER NYT EXEC EDITOR DEAN BAQUET
TO RECEIVE MURROW AWARD
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Washington SBDC Statewide Host |
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Dean Baquet, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and former executive editor of the New York Times, will receive the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th Murrow Symposium in Pullman on April 4.
“Each year, our faculty members consider nominations of potential recipients of this award who best reflect Murrow’s professional ethics and virtues,” said Bruce Pinkleton, dean of Murrow College at WSU. “It’s especially appropriate to honor Dean Baquet in a year when our symposium theme is ‘Legacy of Truth, Communication with Courage.’ “
Baquet was born and raised in the Tremé district of New Orleans and started his career in journalism as an intern and then reporter at the paper that became the Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
In 1984, he joined the Chicago Tribune, where in 1988 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his seven-part series on corruption in the city council. That was followed by 10 years at the New York Times before moving to the Los Angeles Times as managing editor. He eventually became the first Black person to serve in the top editorial position at the LA Times. In 2006 he returned to the New York Times, initially as the Washington Bureau chief and then as the executive editor.
The Times received 18 Pulitzer Prizes under his leadership and saw its circulation rise to more than 9 million subscriptions.
Previous winners of the Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award have included: Ann Curry, Lester Holt, Melissa Block and Dan Rather.
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Helping Washington Businesses
Grow & Succeed
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The Washington SBDC network, hosted by Washington State University, is an accredited member of America’s SBDC. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, institutions of higher education, economic development organizations and other public and private funding partners. |
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