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Hampton Roads SBDC opens office at Bloom Coworking to expand on-site advising for Portsmouth entrepreneurs
Summary
Portsmouth officials and partners celebrated the opening of a Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center office housed at Bloom Coworking, a move city leaders say will provide on-site advising, training and connections to help more than 200 local entrepreneurs scale into permanent storefronts and jobs.
Portsmouth leaders and partners gathered at Bloom Coworking to mark the opening of a Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center office intended to provide on-site advising, workshops and one-on-one technical assistance to local entrepreneurs.
Michelle Wren, the Portsmouth Partnership leader who opened the event, said Bloom was created to “eliminate barriers of entry for small businesses” and described the coworking space as a place where entrepreneurs can connect, learn and grow. She told the audience Bloom currently houses over 200 entrepreneurs and maintains a wait list.
“The SBDC establish[ing] an office here in Bloom allows us to provide entrepreneurs with professional customized guidance where they already work,” Wren said, offering the partnership as a tool to help members move from startup to stability and growth.
Mayor Shannon Glover said he has seen the center’s impact firsthand and described his vision for the city’s economic future. “The vision of Portsmouth is to be the number 1 city in Virginia for small business,” Glover said, praising the SBDC and local partners for supporting small-business development.
Brian Donahue, Portsmouth’s director of economic development, said the new SBDC location will bring business advising, technical assistance and training directly into the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Over 90% of the businesses in the city of Portsmouth are small businesses,” Donahue said, calling the center a critical resource for scaling and retaining local enterprises.
Jolie Spears, executive director of the Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center, summarized the SBDC’s regional work, saying the organization has worked with about 2,500 businesses, helped generate roughly $92,000,000 in capital formation, created about 1,300 jobs and supported more than 100 new businesses over the past five years. Spears introduced members of the SBDC team and encouraged businesses to make appointments with on-site advisors.
Spears also introduced Amber Kostka, who will be available to provide business advising at Bloom. The event concluded with a ceremonial ribbon cutting and a champagne toast.
City officials and SBDC leaders said the on-site partnership aims to help entrepreneurs graduate into permanent storefronts, lease office space, hire employees and contribute to Portsmouth’s broader economic revitalization.
