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Local SBDC adviser: entrepreneurs getting hands‑on business plans, revolving loan fund reserved for bank‑declined applicants
Summary
Todd Thompson of the Small Business Development Center told the advisory board Aug. 27 that the SBDC is doing intensive hands‑on work with entrepreneurs on business plans, financials and marketing research and that the revolving loan fund is an option for applicants only after primary lenders decline.
Todd Thompson, a Small Business Development Center adviser at the Utah State University campus in Moab, gave the board a detailed update on SBDC services and local lending resources.
“We help them create their business plans. I'm helping them create their financials. I'm talking to them about the different grants available. I'm talking about the different loans available,” Thompson said, describing assistance that ranges from rewriting business plans to preparing multi‑year financial projections and connecting clients with market researchers.
Thompson said the revolving loan fund is not an automatic source of capital. “They have to be turned down by a primary lender, like a bank. They can't just go to the revolving fund,” he told the board. He described the SBDC role as a preparatory one: SBDC staff help applicants assemble the materials the revolving loan committee requires and coordinate with local lenders and regional loan‑fund staff (Thompson referenced Corinne Olson as a regional contact for the revolving loan fund). Thompson said applicants still must be approved by the revolving loan fund committee.
Thompson described the SBDC’s other referral and funding paths: small microgrant programs (he cited a $3,000 microgrant through Weber State’s Wildcat Fund), SBA and other loan products, state economic assistance grants that open Sept. 1, and regional revolving loan funds. He also noted that SBDC staff often coach clients through presentations to funders and help refine plans where proposals fail initial review. “We have people that work at banks. We have other people that work at SBDC. So we have other individuals that will meet with them and making sure that what we've put together for them makes sense,” he said.
Board members asked whether the SBDC is working mostly with new startups or established businesses. Thompson said he works with a range of clients, including very new ventures and existing local owners expanding into new lines; he stressed the emphasis on local applicants who plan to hire locally. He also warned the board about workforce constraints: one business he is helping has cycled through many employees and struggles to retain staff because “it costs a lot of money to live in Moab.”
Thompson said SBDC staff also provide leadership and management training for local managers and coordinate with partners such as Desert Rivers Credit Union, the Utah Microloan Fund, and regional marketing consultants (he named Rob Head as a marketing researcher the SBDC uses).
Discussion only: the advisory board did not vote on lending decisions. Members discussed whether the board should require applicants to obtain SBDC review before applying for RCG/RCOG funds and whether the SBDC could staff an applicant booth at a future workshop. Thompson agreed to make himself available to review applicants before they submit materials to the board if the board wants that as a formal step.
The meeting did not include any formal changes to revolving loan fund rules or program eligibility; those remain controlled by the revolving loan committee and regional administrators.
