BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics' Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has announced its Whatcom County economic-impact figures for 2007.
- The SBDC assisted local businesses in saving or creating 750 jobs and helped clients in obtaining over $23 million in loans and new investments.
- The five certified business advisors counseled 436 clients, including clients seen through its eight satellite offices throughout Whatcom County. The SBDC staff provided more than 3,910 hours of in-depth counseling and research ─ approximately nine hours per client.
- The SBDC helped leverage every dollar of local funding to over $49 in new investments for the local community. For every dollar of local funding the SBDC received, SBDC clients generated over 49 new dollars in new investments for Whatcom County.
"These impacts benefited all of Whatcom County, and highlights the quality of our economic-development activities in 2007," said SBDC Director Tom Dorr.
Since 1996, 4,658 clients have been counseled encompassing 36,740 hours of counseling that resulted in 4,111 jobs saved or created and $139,492,657 in new investments.
For more than 20 years, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has enabled Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics to give back to the business community and has helped to shape the economic future of Whatcom County, one business at a time. The SBDC provides free, confidential counseling, technical assistance and secondary research to business owners and managers in an effort to help businesses thrive throughout Whatcom County.
The SBDC is funded through the Port of Bellingham; the State of Washington, Washington Department of Community Trade and Economic Development; the U.S. Small Business Administration; Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics; the cities of Bellingham, Ferndale, Blaine, Lynden, and Sumas; Whatcom County; the Economic Development Administration, and private donations.
For more information, contact the SBDC at (360) 733-4014 or visit the Web site at: www.cbe.wwu.edu/sbdc.
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