{"id":11764,"date":"2025-01-02T09:37:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T15:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11764"},"modified":"2025-01-02T09:37:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T15:37:57","slug":"small-business-development-center-offers-trusted-transformational-support","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/small-business-development-center-offers-trusted-transformational-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Business Development Center offers trusted, transformational support"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
The UW\u2013Madison Small Business Development Center, led by Michelle Somes-Booher, provides free, localized support to start and grow Wisconsin businesses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s nearly a thousand small business development centers across the country, but ask anyone who has worked with the one at UW\u2013Madison, and they\u2019ll tell you that it\u2019s something truly special.<\/p>\n

Located within the Wisconsin School of Business, the UW\u2013Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides no-cost consulting and dozens of noncredit courses to help businesses launch, expand, and thrive. With support from a small but mighty team of consultants and outreach specialists, small businesses can get advice on topics from financial planning to team building, and everything in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the Wisconsin Idea in action,\u201d says center director Michelle Somes-Booher. \u201cNo matter your connection to the university, we can help you. We can educate you. We can review your business plan. We can do all kinds of things for you that won\u2019t cost you anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the Wisconsin Idea in action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Michelle Somes-Booher<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The SBDC consults with around 500 clients a year\u2014plus an additional 200 or so who call with one-off questions\u2014and no two look the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery business that starts is a small business,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cWe\u2019ve had clients in construction, software development, manufacturing, educational services, and many more industries. We like to say that we\u2019re here to provide high-level help to get you going\u2014then point you in the right direction for more industry-specific assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rooted in Wisconsin<\/h3>\n

If a nationwide network of small business support sounds like a good idea, it\u2019s because it came from Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

In 1980, Senator Gaylord Nelson crafted legislation which paved the way for small business development centers to be created at universities and other locations across the country and funded through federal dollars. The idea of providing free, localized support to start and grow a business\u2014and increase its chances for success\u2014is a model that\u2019s remained politically popular for over 40 years, and for good reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe return a lot of impact to the economy,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cFor every dollar that Congress spends on the program, it produces about $60 to $70 back in economic impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the mission of the SBDC has stayed the same, its work and scope have evolved over the years. When Somes-Booher took over as the center\u2019s director in 2016, she began implementing new resources to keep pace amid a rapidly changing business landscape.<\/p>\n

That includes the creation of SBDC\u2019s First Steps to Starting a Business course, which guides participants through everything from the feasibility of their idea to assessing personal strengths as a business owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had someone from every county in Wisconsin, every state, and 40 different countries take that class,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cFor a free online course, you\u2019d be happy if 5% of people finished it, but we have a nearly 50% completion rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team also provided another invaluable service in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic upended operations for businesses and created unprecedented demand for SBDC\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw record numbers of people during that time,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cIn addition to our current clients, we had past clients coming back to us for help understanding all these new government programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

While working to translate lengthy government missives into easy-to-consume newsletters, the SBDC team revamped their entrepreneurial training program, moving most of their non-credit courses online. They also created a free workbook, Navigating the New Normal, which racked up hundreds of downloads upon release.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did many different things to pivot, which has actually shaped the offerings we provide now,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud of the work our crew did during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consultation with innovation<\/h3>\n

Somes-Booher and her team have also been proactive in getting WSB students involved in their work. There\u2019s no federal requirement to utilize students, but they realized the value of doing so\u2014both for the students themselves and their clients.<\/p>\n

The SBDC now works closely with WSB\u2019s student-led Badger Consulting Club. Each semester, the SBDC secures four consulting projects for the club, which include real consultations with real clients, as well as invaluable feedback for the students.<\/p>\n

Most recently, the SBDC launched its Small Business Accounting and Projection Clinic, which helps founders navigate arguably the most daunting part of starting a business: the finances. In addition to offering a free, online Beginner\u2019s Guide to Financial Projections course, the clinic hires undergraduate and graduate students from WSB\u2019s highly ranked accounting program to assist clients with creating the financial projections necessary for securing loans.<\/p>\n

While the SBDC\u2019s body of work is vast and often complex, their efforts have not gone unrecognized. In addition to receiving a 100% client satisfaction rating for two years in a row, the Small Business Administration (SBA) recently recognized the team with the Great Lakes Regional Small Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation Award.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s nomination for the honor was supported by entities including WSB, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the city of Madison, and the Wisconsin Women\u2019s Business Initiative Corporation, which partners with SBDC to provide Spanish-speaking consultation services.<\/p>\n

The secret sauce to all of this success, says Somes-Booher, is the people. Because while there may be hundreds of small business development centers nationwide, there\u2019s only one with her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just a really great team to work with,\u201d says Somes-Booher. \u201cThey\u2019re incredibly talented and really care about their clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read more Homegrown Success Stories<\/a><\/h4>\n
\n

Written by Chris Malina<\/p>\n

Photography by Paul L. Newby II<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/business.wisc.edu\/update-magazine\/small-business-development-center\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s nearly a thousand small business development centers across the country, but ask anyone who has worked with the one at UW\u2013Madison, and they\u2019ll tell you that it\u2019s something truly special. Located within the Wisconsin School of Business, the UW\u2013Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides no-cost consulting and dozens of noncredit courses to help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[103],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11764","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-madison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11764"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}