“Helping businesses start, grow, and prosper.”
The Bucknell University Small Business Development Center provides business advice, education, information, and technical assistance to help small businesses succeed. The Bucknell SBDC works with over 300 clients annually to enhance their knowledge of business management through individual counseling and educational seminars. For over 30 years it has been providing the information every business person needs to make critical decisions and helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into businesses and new products. Small business owners who receive assistance from the SBDC survive at a 35% greater rate than those who do not and over 80% of clients are still in business 8 years after receiving assistance.
Bucknell’s SBDC offers confidential business consulting free of charge to clients in Juniata, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder and Union counties and is part of a statewide network of eighteen centers. It is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and Bucknell University. Staff consultants, Bucknell faculty, staff, and student interns provide guidance in areas such as business planning, startup procedures, accounting, marketing, and sales. In the past five years Bucknell’s SBDC has contributed its expertise to the startup of over 100 companies and its clients have accessed over $23 million in capital.
Educational seminars are conducted by knowledgeable SBDC staff and world-renowned experts. These are offered at low cost and include topics such as marketing, social networking for business, Quickbooks, and customer service. For a list of upcoming events, visit http://www.bucknell.edu/sbdc
Bucknell is also the host of the statewide SBDC network’s specialty Engineering Development Services. As the first SBDC in the nation to be hosted by a College of Engineering, it is unique in providing direct assistance in computer aided design (CAD), new product development, and prototyping. In the last three years clients have launched over 15 innovative new products to market, including the Hexagon backpacking wood stove from Vargo Outdoors.
