Small Business Development Center Supported by Statistical Study
by October 1, 2001 12:00 am 68 views
Small Business Development Center clients created 1,175 new jobs in Arkansas in 1999, according to a study released by the University of Arkansas SBDC. Lance Sexton, director of the UA SBDC, said the Northwest Arkansas center’s clients created 351 of those new jobs.
James Chrisman, a member of management faculty at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, surveyed 432 SBDC clients in Arkansas to determine the SBDC’s impact on the state’s small businesses and economy.
In the release, Chrisman said 86 percent of those surveyed found the SBDC services to be beneficial and important to their business’s startup or growth. There are 11 SBDC locations in Arkansas, and the UA center is the largest.
Statewide last year, the SBDC clients generated $189.4 million in incremental sales, obtained $60.9 million in financing and created $10.88 million in additional tax revenue for the state and federal governments. About $7.4 million of those tax dollars went to the State of Arkansas, according to the study.