The Eastern Iowa SBDC has completed its 21st year of service to
Eastern Iowa with a record number of new clients served.
In the fiscal year just ended June 30, 2005, The Eastern Iowa SBDC:
Assisted 401 new clients by providing 933 hours of counseling
Provided 230 hours of counseling to existing clients
Held 43 classes in entrepreneurship and other business topics
Attracted 315 students
Provided 1284 classroom hours of training
The center's most popular classes are "Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs", a day-long course for individuals planning their new business, and "QuickBooks Basic".
The Eastern Iowa SBDC served new and existing businesses across a broad spectrum of the following industries in the past year:
9% worked in construction
5% in manufacturing
13% in professional, science and technology services
11% worked in education, health care and social assistance services
9% in the arts and entertainment
11% in retail businesses
11% in accommodations and food service
The remainder businesses were in a variety of services and industries.
The Eastern Iowa SBDC is one of 13 SBDC's serving the state of Iowa. The Iowa SBDC's are a joint venture of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Iowa State University. The Eastern Iowa center is hosted by Eastern Iowa Community College District and serves the counties of Jackson, Clinton, Scott and Muscatine. 15% of Iowa's population is served by this center.
There are over 1900 SBDC's throughout the United States providing consulting, training and educational opportunities to America's entrepreneurs. One-on-one consulting is provided to center clients free of charge and cover an array of topics from writing a business plan to areas including financing, accounting, human resources, marketing, inventory management, etc. While the SBDC is partially funded by the SBA, they do not lend money to clients. SBDC counselors, however, provide clients with the knowledge and tools to assist them in finding financing.
Ann Hutchinson has served as director of the Eastern Iowa SBDC for the past two years. She has extensive experience in banking and management, starting and managing her own business, FirstCity Mortgage Corp., for 12 years prior to coming to the center. Jen'e Fuller serves as the center's administrative assistant. The SBDC is located in the New Ventures Center at 331 West 3rd Street in Davenport, and is open during the business hours of 8:00- 5:00, Monday through Friday. You can reach the Eastern Iowa SBDC at 563-336-3401 or through their website, www.eicc.edu/sbdc/.