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Small Business Development Center asks for $6,000 to expand local counseling and trainings
Summary
Laurel Ridge’s Small Business Development Center requested $6,000 from Warren County to expand one-on-one counseling and training, citing last year’s client outcomes and a plan to increase served residents from 33 to roughly 60–70.
The Laurel Ridge Small Business Development Center asked the Warren County Board of Supervisors to increase its local contribution to $6,000, the center’s regional director said during the county budget hearing.
Andy Gireson, who identified himself as the center’s local director, said the SBDC provides free one-on-one counseling paid by a federal U.S. Small Business Administration grant and local cash matches from partners. He said the office supports retail, service, agribusiness and startup activity and works with local partners such as the chamber of commerce.
Gireson presented self-reported outcomes for the past year in Warren County: 33 residents served in one-on-one sessions, 93 advising hours with those individuals, four new startups, seven new jobs, roughly $293,000 in new loans obtained and about $160,000 in increased sales for participating businesses. He asked for $6,000 to expand outreach and one-on-one counseling and to increase the county clients he serves from 33 toward 60–70.
He described planned programming including an agribusiness conference with roughly 75 registrations and multiple breakout tracks (social media, land-preservation tools, risk-management), a half-day event that will be open to farmers and farm-based businesses. Gireson said the SBDC’s total center budget is roughly $230,000, half provided by SBA and half by local matches from partners.
A supervisor noted a likely typographical error on the SBDC form where a county percentage was shown as 0.07% and suggested the correct figure should be 7 percent. Gireson confirmed Warren County’s contribution is meaningful in the center’s local funding mix.
The request was presented for board consideration; no formal appropriation was recorded in the meeting transcript.
