KU Small Business Development Center asks Douglas County for $15,000 to expand advising and materials

The KU Small Business Development Center asked Douglas County commissioners for a one-time $15,000 supplemental to produce educational materials and extend advising capacity to local small businesses.

Christina Edwards, director and business adviser, said the SBDC served "just under 550" clients last year and operates with three full-time business advisers and one part-time adviser. She told commissioners the center provides free, confidential, one-on-one advising across the business lifecycle and has begun partnering with the University of Kansas School of Business to bring MBA interns into the program.

"Part of the supplemental request will be enabling us to continue that, continually provide and produce more of those things," Edwards said, referencing video materials, documents and guided worksheets designed to help business owners with marketing, accounting setup and accessing capital.

Edwards acknowledged capacity limits: with three full-time advisers supporting roughly 500 businesses, the center is exploring automation of administrative tasks and creation of reusable materials to increase reach without immediately adding full-time staff.

Why it matters: County funding would allow the SBDC to produce scalable educational materials that could be shared with partner organizations across the county, potentially increasing small-business owners’ access to practical tools while preserving direct advising for higher-need cases.

Next steps: Commissioners did not vote on the supplemental request at the session; further budget deliberations were implied.