Business advisers get congressional acclaim
Clients of the Mt. Pleasant-based North Texas Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of the Year invested $8.5 million in business development creating 144 new jobs last year, said Executive Director Tim Wilson.
Funded by federal and state grants channeling through Northeast Texas Community College, the staff of three business advisers and an executive assistant create business plans for new and expanding businesses.
Centers anchored by colleges and universities have access to some 30 “proprietary” data bases providing information from market analysis to business expenses based on national studies of industry benchmarks.
“Almost all new or expanding businesses need capital,” Mr. Wilson said. “When we’ve completed a business plan, our clients are prepared when they go to the bank.”
“Business intelligence” begins with an understanding of the industry – is it flourishing or fading? Feasibility study provides an opening look at the market. Demographics provide market area household income averages providing for projections of disposable income and more about consumer habits.
“Geographic Information Services” provide the same sort of data political strategists employ when studying populations, communities, businesses and neighborhoods most likely to support their candidate, Mr. Wilson said.
Client vision provides a baseline for cost projections. “There’s a lot involved,” said Samantha Jones, General Manager of Steve O’s Pizza, a Mt. Vernon client. “Before we opened the doors we knew everything down to the ingredient costs for everything on the menu.”
SBDC provides resources helping with job training and formulating staffing requirements. “If you can’t get everything to work on paper, it’s not going to work when you open the doors,” said Business Adviser Beverly Austin.
From a satellite office in Texarkana, Darrell Williams works with the TexAmericas Center, a 12,000-acre business park, in business recruitment matching criteria for “Historically Underutilized Businesses,” a designation based on socioeconomic criteria.
“Almost every client arrives with developed skills,” Mrs. Austin said. “They’ve got education or job experience or a combination of both and they’re ready to launch, to make a thing happen. The journey starts on paper.” Plans generally require 30 to 60 days to complete. The NTCC SBDC office has some 150 clients.
