Help doesn’t come at the expense of time or fuel for Savannah small business leaders.
The Small Business Resource Center, located at 111 E. Liberty St. across from Drayton Tower, is home to four business service organizations in a “one stop center.” The Small Business Assistance Corp. offers loans and technical assistance, the Small Business Development Center contributes consulting, education and training; SCORE provides mentoring and counseling; and the U.S. Commercial Service supplies exporting services.
“All that under one roof,” said Tony O’Reilly with the Small Business Assistance Corp., or SBAC. “You do have to walk down the hall to get the exporting advice.”
O’Reilly was one of two representatives from the Small Business Resource Center to share information Tuesday during the monthly Small Business Council SMART lunch. He and SCORE President Marjorie Young tag-teamed on the first of a series of presentations on resources available for existing small businesses.
O’Reilly focused on the SBAC’s 13 financing programs, highlighted by three popular federal products offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration. Borrowers have included the Lady & Sons, B&D Burners, Chatham Eye Associates and the Tybee Wedding Chapel.
“Walk into a bank and say you are going to move a chapel that was in a movie and turn it into a business. What do you think they are going to say?” O’Reilly said. “But you get SBAC involved, and all the sudden the bank gets interested. Good things happen.”
O’Reilly also outlined programs with other partners, including state and local governments and federal agencies, as well as local banks. Four banks that serve Savannah — Bank of America, BB&T, SunTrust and Wells Fargo — contributed to a small business capital fund administered by the SBAC.
SCORE, meanwhile, provides the small business resources money can’t buy. A nationwide organization comprised of more than 13,000 volunteers, many of them retired executives, SCORE is a network of mentors.
Statistics show mentors are worth between $5,000 and $25,000 a year to small business leaders, Young said. She got involved with the group in 1989 when her father’s business was struggling, and the advice SCORE volunteers provided “turned the business around.”
“The small business landscape is a minefield,” Young told the luncheon attendees. “SCORE can help you navigate it.”
ABOUT THE SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCE CENTER
Located at 111 E. Liberty St. downtown, across from Drayton Tower, the facility is a “one stop center for business services.” The center is home to:
• Small Business Assistance Corp. (business loans and technical assistance) More information at www.sbacsav.com or 912-232-4700.
• UGA Small Business Development Center (consulting, education and training) More information at www.sbdc.uga.edu or 912-651-3200.
• SCORE (mentoring and counseling) More information at www.scoresav.org or 912-652-4335.
• U.S. Commercial Service (exporting services) More information at www.buyusa.gov or 912-652-4204.
Source: Small Business Resource Center