America's #1 Trusted Small Business Network
Celebrates 35 Years
Business has changed dramatically in
the last 35 years, from the introduction of new technologies to the expansion
of global trade. And America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network has been there throughout
-- helping small
businesses succeed, and helping aspiring entrepreneurs achieve
the American
dream of owning their own
business.
“America’s small businesses are truly the engine of economic growth, and for 35 years, America’s SBDCs have been like spark plugs helping to keep that engine going,” said Charles “Tee” Rowe, President of America’s SBDC.
Today, a new business is opened by an SBDC in-depth client every 33 minutes; a new job is created in the U.S. by an SBDC in-depth client every 7 minutes; $100,000 in new sales are generated by SBDC in-depth clients every 4 minutes; and $100,000 in capital is obtained by SBDC in-depth clients every 15 minutes.
America’s SBDC network is a partnership that includes the U.S. Congress, SBA, the private sector, and the colleges, universities and state governments that manage SBDCs across the nation. SBDCs provide management and technical assistance to an estimated one million small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs each year. Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can go to their local SBDCs for free, face-to-face business consulting and at-cost training on writing business plans, accessing capital, marketing, regulatory compliance, international trade and more.
The 35-year story of how America’s Small Business Development Center Network grew -- from a
small pilot program to a nationwide business education and training infrastructure
with
nearly 1,000 centers throughout
the nation
providing management and technical
assistance to over
a million Americans annually -- is a unique one. It chronicles the commitment of key federal lawmakers,
training professionals, college and
university officials, state and local
policymakers, private and
public sector partners,
dedicated SBDC personnel,
an active trade association
and, most of all, the millions
of small business men and
women who have come to America’s SBDCs seeking
to improve their lives
through America’s free enterprise system.
Celebrating 35 years to us
doesn’t mean looking back, it means looking
to the next 35 years and
where our network is going and
what we are doing
that is changing and revolutionizing
the small business world.
To learn more about what the SBDC
program in your state is doing for
small business, go to the SBDC locator and find out how SBDCs are helping businesses start, grow and thrive
where you live.
Celebrating 35 Years
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| William Flewellen, Jr. (of the University of Georgia) and Reed Powell (of the California State Polytechnic University at Pomona), both of whom served on the SBA National Advisory Board, begin discussing the need for a program that combines the resources of higher education, government and the private sector to support the development of small businesses. |
|
1976
|
The SBA implements a new University Business Development Center
(UBDC) Program
by funding a pilot initiative at California State Polytechnic University
in Pomona, CA.
|
|
1977
|
Seven more universities are added to the network, in
Georgia,
California, Missouri, Nebraska, Maine, Florida and New Jersey.
Senator Gaylord Nelson introduces the Small
Business Development Center
Act
|
|
1979
|
The network grows to 16
participants, with the addition of centers in Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Washington
State, and becomes
known as the Small Business Development Center
(SBDC) network.
The Association of Small Business Development
Centers is formed, and Larry Bramlett, Director
of the Georgia SBDC, becomes
the Association’s first president.
|
|
1980
|
President
Carter signs legislation enacting the Small
Business Development Center
Massachusetts and Alabama
are added to the network.
|
|
1981-
1982
|
Connecticut,
Mississippi Kentucky, Iowa,
Vermont, West
Virginia and
Delaware are added to the network.
The SBA SBDC National
Advisory Board is established.
|
|
1983-
1984
|
SBA appoints a Deputy
Associate Administrator for Management Assistance (later
to be known as the Associate Administrator for SBDCs). Ms. Johnnie Albertson manages the national program in that position for the greater
part of 20 years.
“Peer Reviews” are initiated
and become the forerunner of the modern-day SBDC certification/accreditation program, which
is provided for by statute.
Rhode Island, Michigan, Louisiana, Kansas Illinois, Tennessee, Texas- Arlington, Oregon,
New Hampshire, New York
(SUNY), Oklahoma, Texas- Houston
and North
Carolina are added
to the network.
|
|
1985-
87
|
Indiana, Nevada, NY (Downstate)
North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Dakota,
the Virgin Islands,
Wyoming, Texas-Dallas, Texas-Lubbock, Texas-San Antonio,
Ohio, Idaho and Alaska are added to the
network.
|
|
1988-
1990
|
Arizona, Colorado,
Maryland, Montana,
New Mexico,
Hawaii and Virginia are added to the network.
|
|
1991
|
The SBDC program
returns to California after an absence of several years, establishing for the first time an SBDC program in every state in the
nation.
The Association of Small Business Development
Centers (ASBDC) hosts its first national Professional Development Conference
for SBDCs.
|
|
1993
|
Dr. James Chrisman publishes the first SBDC Economic Impact
report on the nationwide impact of America’s SBDC network.
|
|
1995
|
Guam is added to the network.
|
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2000
|
American Samoa is added to the network.
|
|
2003
|
Six regional SBDC programs are established
in California, making 63 total SBDC
programs.
|
|
2013
|
America’s SBDCs help in-depth consulting clients
create a
new job every 7 minutes; a new business
every 33 minutes; $100,000 in sales
every four minutes; and access $100,000 in capital every 15 minutes.
The Association of Small Business Development
Centers (ASBDC) rebrands itself
and the national
SBDC network as “America’s SBDC.”
|
|
2015
|
America’s SBDC celebrates its 35th Anniversary.
America’s SBDC network comprises
nearly 1,000 centers across the nation,
providing consulting,
training and other services to approximately one
million small business owners and
aspiring entrepreneurs each
year.
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