Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, both at micro and macro levels. Those brave enough to launch one of these enterprises on their own are fortunate to have tools such as the Bucknell Small Business Development Center and hundreds of SBDCs like it across the nation.
These organizations took a bow this week to celebrate National Small Business Development Center Day. The mission of these locations, Bucknell SBDC director Steve Stumbris said, is to “assist and nurture entrepreneurs, bringing their dreams and creative ideas to life and helping those businesses grow.”
It’s a critical space to fill and buoy.
According to the U.S. Small Business Association, 99.9 percent of all American firms are “small businesses.” The SBA defines small businesses as those with fewer than 500 employees, a classification that accounts for 33.2 million businesses across the country.
SBA data show more than 60 percent of jobs created from 1995 to 2021 were in small businesses and 46 percent of America’s private sector employees work for a small business.
And these small businesses aren’t going anywhere. In 2021, as the nation started to emerge out of COVID, SBA reported a record 5.4 million new business applications were filed in the U.S.
“We have programs designed to support small business activities, the opportunity to expand businesses,” Bob Morgan, state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in this week’s visit to StartUp Danville. “They are the lifeblood of our community. And an operation like the SBDC, an incubator. We were helpful in funding the incubator. That’s what our job is all about. It’s wonderful to see businesses that start out in a small space and really have an impact on the community. And in many cases begin to employ people.”
Small Business Development Centers and the incubators they oversee are important safety nets. They provide counseling, innovation assistance, critical networking opportunities and other education opportunities, among other things.
Events such as Wednesday’s celebration, which featured a pair of ribbon cuttings for new businesses, create connections among business owners who have used the tools available and found success. Hearing, and sharing these success stories, can plant seeds for other forward-thinking entrepreneurs.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in The Daily Item’s editorials are the consensus of the publisher, top newsroom executives and community members of the editorial board. Today’s was written by Editor William Bowman.
