SMC’s Small Business Center Wins SBA Award

By Lookout Staff

July 6, 2011 -- The U.S. Small Business Administration has given Santa Monica College’s Small Business Development Center an excellence and innovation award for improving performance, increasing efficiency and encouraging green businesses during tough economic times.

The center is the only green business advisor in the Los Angeles area’s SBDC network and has the highest return on investment within its network, SBA officials said.

"The SBDC network has been an important resource for thousands of businesses that have struggled to remain operational during the recession of the last few years," said Michelle King, director of the SMC SBDC.

"Santa Monica College's support as host is vital to the L.A. Regional SBDC Network's ability to assist small businesses,” King said. “It is a documented fact that supporting businesses and helping them to remain viable benefits the entire community."

The award was presented at the 30th Annual Small Business Los Angeles District Awards co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce this month.

Eleven entrepreneurs and small business champions in the Los Angeles area were recognized for helping to drive the regional economy and accelerate economic recovery, SBA officials said.

“SBA officials noted that the SMC center specializes in supporting and developing green business, but other types as well, including apparel, food services, health and beauty, import/export and international trade, and entertainment,” college officials said.

In the 2009-10 fiscal year, the SMC SBDC provided one-on-one counseling services to 749 clients, 430 of them new. The center's 140 training events reached 1,082 individuals resulting in the development of 42 new businesses and the creation of 238 jobs. During this time, the center's clients reported $7.1 million in increased sales.

Opened in January 2006 at the Santa Monica Airport, the SMC SBDC provides free, one-on-one, confidential business counseling services to people who have a business idea and to entrepreneurs who want to grow their business or make them more environmentally friendly.

It also offers low-cost basic business and legal workshops. For more information, call (310) 434-3566 or go to www.smc.edu/sbdc .