Small Business is Big
Business
It
was no surprise that when the members
of the Association of Small Business
Development Centers (ASBDC) were
looking to elect their next chair,
they chose Jody Keenan, the state
director of the Virginia Small
Business Development Centers (SBDC).
The ASBDC
represents the collective interest
of the national network of SBDCs.
A partnership program, ASBDC works
with private enterprise, government,
higher education, and local nonprofit
economic development organizations.
More than 500,000 businesses are
assisted by ASBDC member programs
each year.
Keenan has been involved with SBDCs
on numerous levels, from local to
national. With experience she acquired
as an SBDC business |
Jody
Keenan |
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counselor
while in graduate school, Keenan joined
Mason in 1996 as the director of the Fairfax
SBDC. SBDC is one of the many services
provided by the Mason
Enterprise Center (MEC) under the leadership of Director
and Associate Dean, Roger Stough and Managing
Director and Assistant Dean, Keith Segerson.
The MEC, administered by the School of
Public Policy, is a university-based economic
development enterprise that focuses the
energy, skills and intellectual capital
of George Mason University on enterprise
creation and expansion. The Fairfax SBDC
works with Mason faculty members, researchers,
and students who are launching companies
around technologies developed at the university.
Some of its recent successes include Mineral
Sciences, SCIT Labs, Secure Command, and
Exprentis.
In 2003, when the university became
the lead host for the SBDC network in
Virginia, Keenan took on the role as
state director. Partners of the Virginia
SBDC include the U.S. Small Business
Administration, Mason, and local sponsors.
“We help companies develop business
plans, access capital to start or grow
a business, develop marketing plans,
and implement accounting systems. We
also provide general business management
advice,” says Keenan.
One of Keenan’s main challenges
as state director has been to manage
the U.S. Small Business Administration
grant that funds, in part, the 29 local
SBDC offices throughout Virginia. With
the funds, the centers provide small
business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs
with no-cost or low-cost information,
business counseling, and training. In
addition, the Virginia SBDC Network recently
contracted with the Virginia Department
of Transportation to provide business
assessments and counseling to certified
Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. The
contract funds a counselor in Springfield,
Richmond, Hampton Roads, and Radford
to help these enterprises with marketing,
financing, and internal operations in
preparation for bidding on state contracts.
According to the ASBDC, there are more
than 22 million small businesses in America,
with more than 800,000 started just in
the past year, and there are 1,100 SBDCs
throughout the United States.
One of the challenges facing Keenan
is securing ongoing funding. According
to Keenan, federal funding has almost
been flat since 2001. Local centers are
required to match their federal allocations,
and the local hosts (that is, universities,
community colleges, and chambers of commerce)
have been making up the difference in
operating costs. As ASBDC chair, Keenan
looks forward to engaging the membership
in the national legislative agenda to
increase federal funding for the national
SBDC network, which would help the association
implement a national SBDC counselor certification
program.
By supporting and strengthening small
and medium business management, the centers
contribute to the growth of local, state,
and national economies. Keenan explains
the natural relationship between the
SBDC and Mason’s School of Public
Policy is that both do research and teach
about entrepreneurship and economic development.
“The SBDC brings together business,
education, and government,” says
Keenan. “The School of Public Policy
and the SBDC encourage entrepreneurship
and economic development.”
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