Do Small Businesses Really Need the SBA’s Help?

I’ve sometimes heard from business owners that “nobody” uses the SBA’s 900 field offices known as small business development centers or SBDCs. Turns out that’s just not true.

With funding for SDBCs on the chopping block at both the state and federal level, the SBA has documented the SBDCs’ impact in a new report. It appears entrepreneurs definitely visit the SBDCs — more than 500,000 of them in 2010, the study found — and the business owners report the resources there helped their businesses thrive.

One of the biggest advantages users of SBDCs gained was knowledge of how to get a business loan. There’s also good crossover with business education, as many of the centers are hosted on college campuses.

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