University of Wisconsin - Extension

MADISON, Wis. ¿ Feb. 17, 2003 ¿ More than $1.5 million in funding targeted to Wisconsin small businesses is included in the FY 2003 budget passed by Congress last Friday.

The budget item provides federal funding for the University of Wisconsin-Extension Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which helps entrepreneurs start new businesses and enables existing small businesses to manage and run their businesses more profitably. The SBDC is partially funded through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), with participating states required to provide matching funds.

¿In light of Wisconsin¿s current budget deficit, it is vitally important that Congress direct federal resources to assist and support the vitality of the small business sector,¿ said Erica Kauten, SBDC State Director at UW-Extension. ¿Support for entrepreneurs and small businesses will result in more jobs and more revenue for Wisconsin.¿

¿Eighty percent of Wisconsin businesses employ 20 people or less. We need to make sure our small businesses have the tools they need to compete,¿ said Cory L. Nettles, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce.

In addition to helping clients secure over $12 million in financing and create over 600 jobs annually, the SBDC helps small firms successfully weather economic slowdowns and helps inventors bring new products to market. These and other efforts generate increased tax revenues that regularly exceed the amount of state funds provided to the SBDC program.

Federal funding helped the SBDC provide low-cost training services to over 9,000 entrepreneurs in 2002, providing 17,000 hours of no-cost, confidential counseling. The SBDC helps clients who would be unable to afford comparable private-sector services and acts as a resource to more than 8,000 callers annually.

The state SBDC office operates at UW-Extension, with education and counseling provided by local SBDCs at 13 UW campuses. In addition, clients benefit from specialized services provided by the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center at UW-Whitewater and the Center for Innovation and Development at UW-Stout. For more information, visit www.wisconsinsbdc.org or call 1-800-940-SBDC (7232).

In addition to the SBDCs, the University of Wisconsin-Extension brings university knowledge to the places where people live and work through 72 Cooperative Extension offices, 26 campus-based Continuing Education programs, and the networks of Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. For more information, see www.uwex.edu.