Boon to small biz

Posted on Nov 03, 2011 Recommend Twitter

Business Development Center shares expertise, creates jobs

Like many small business owners, Shawn Bakker was doing fine until the recession hit.

“I was in the habit of going from one job to the next,” said Bakker, who in 2007 moved to Salinas from Colorado and founded his company, Bakker Construction.

The university’s Small Business Development Center has offices in Gonzales, Soledad, Salinas, Hollister and Gilroy, as well as at CSU Monterey Bay. Appointments can be scheduled at any location. In addition to free one-on-one consulting, the center offers a variety of workshops and seminars. To learn more, visit the center online at CSUMB.EDU/sbdc or call 831-675-7232.

“Building a business wasn’t a priority. My phone was ringing enough that it kept me busy.”

But when the phone calls slowed down, he realized he needed to take action rather than simply react to the economy. That’s when his lender referred him to the Small Business Development Center at CSU Monterey Bay for help. 

Working with SBDC adviser Keith Holtaway, he developed strategies and refined tactics that helped him identify his target market as home remodeling and improvements for small businesses.

“I went from being a carpenter who owns a business to being a businessperson who runs a construction company,” Bakker said. “Keith made me aware of that paradigm shift. It was a hard shift to make. Keith helped me through it.”

He is not alone. Since opening its doors in late 2009, the center has provided 2,833 hours of management and technical assistance to more than 256 small businesses and entrepreneurs along the Highway 101 corridor from King City to Gilroy.

The vital services it provides to small business owners help to create and retain jobs in order to strengthen the local economy. It has trained 553 people, created or retained 69 jobs, assisted with the start of 23 businesses, helped its clients increase sales by nearly $2.2 million, and spurred nearly $1.8 million of capital infusion (from loans and owner investment).

Guidance is available to develop business plans, secure financing, assist with marketing, set up financial systems, develop plans for expansion, project cash flow and identify technology needs. University faculty make up about half of the 20 people available to give entrepreneurs free advice.

“We’ve got quite a large skill set” of counselors, said Andrea Zeller-Nield, associate director of the center. Some of the counselors have knowledge of key local industries, such as wine and
agriculture.

CSUMB’s center comes under the auspices of the University of California Merced’s SBDC regional network, a fully accredited and nationally recognized program.

Bakker said he has seen a big payoff from reaching out to the center. By 2010, his company had hired seven new employees and increased sales by about $800,000. Bakker continues to work with the SDBC and expects to contract for $1.2 million in business this year.