WHAT IS THE AZSBDC NETWORK?
Arizona’s Small Business Development Center Network is an innovative partnership between the state’s community college districts, the Microbusiness Advancement Center and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The network is the largest and most accessible source of assistance to Arizona businesses with fewer than 200 employees. It was formed in 1988 and reached its present size in 2009.
WHERE CAN ARIZONANS GO TO BENEFIT FROM THE SBDC?
Over 3,000 clients were served in 2009 by centers that are conveniently located around Arizona’s vast landscape. Eleven centers and ten satellite centers provide business assistance services and administer a service delivery area. They are in Casa Grande, Flagstaff, Kingman, Payson, Prescott, Phoenix, Show Low, Sierra Vista, Thatcher, Tucson, and Yuma. Permanently staffed satellite offices, with limited hours, provide business services in the Globe, Mesa, Morenci, Page, Queen Creek, San Carlos, Sedona, Scottsdale, and Surprise. DOWNLOAD MAP HERE
HOW ARE SERVICES PROVIDED?
One-on-one confidential counseling is at the heart of SBDC work. Counselors use their real-life business ownership and management experience to give clients advice that is relevant and practical. Programs and seminars often complement the counseling. Training content, while developed within the overall mission of the SBDC, is customized and tailored to meet the diverse needs of business owners in metropolitan and non-urban areas of the state.
HOW IS THE NETWORK ORGANIZED?
The network is a collaboration between education and government. Participating institutions have wide latitude in developing programs that meet their communities’ needs. Network-wide policies and strategies are developed by consensus among the participants. An SBDC director is likely to report to an administrator who is two levels removed from the college’s president or chancellor. Maricopa Community Colleges is responsible to the SBA for the overall quality of the network’s services.
HOW IS THE NETWORK FUNDED?
The network’s annual budget is about $3.8 million. $1.7 million comes from the U.S. Small Business Administration. $2.1 million is from participating hosts' funds raised through local property tax levies and Proposition 301. Workshop and seminar fees provide modest additional money. Federal law prohibits SBDCs from charging for counseling. Arizona is one of only two states that does not receive direct state funding to support and expand its work.
HOW DOES THE SBDC MEASURE ITS EFFECTIVENESS?
SBDCs maximize economic impact in the communities they serve. Independent research shows that businesses using SBDC services grow faster and have lower failure rates. The 2009 growth among SBDC clients includes 2,226 jobs created or retained and 310 new businesses launched. The SBDC's counseling activities generated $2.62 in tax revenues for every $1 spent on the program in 2008.
Friends of Small Business (Arizona SBDC Network Advisory Board)
This Cooperative Agreement is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA's funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.
This page is not an official publication of the Maricopa Community College District and contents herein do not represent any formal position or representation by the Maricopa Community College District. Neither MCCCD nor the author assume any responsibility for the content of any page reached through a link displayed here.
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