The Citadel opens resource center for businesses

Small businesses seeking guidance and resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration now can find those services at The Citadel.

The Citadel School of Business Administration this week opened a Small Business Development Center, offering the same services as the established center on Core Avenue in North Charleston.

A counselor from the North Charleston office will be at The Citadel from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday each week. A graduate student in the business school is also available to help clients.

Small Business Development Centers, which total 16 statewide, are the outreach arm of the U.S. Small Business Administration. They offer small business and startup ventures help with business plans, bidding for federal and state projects, loans and more.

Ronald Green, dean of The Citadel’s School of Business Administration, said more MBA students will work with small business clients in the future. Classes of graduate students could take on a small business plan as a project, for example.

“This is pretty common around the country, to allow students to have first-hand looks at what small businesses are doing,” Green said.

The University of South Carolina, Clemson University, Winthrop University and S.C. State University have similar centers on their campuses, said John Lenti, director of the state’s Small Business Development Center Program.

Lenti said the centers benefit students and the business community. By embedding them in universities, he said, clients have access to the latest technology and business acumen from students and faculty.

Students have an opportunity to consult with real businesses before going on the job market. “And right now, what you look for, you look for an edge,” Lenti said.

The Citadel Small Business Development Center services are free, confidential and open to any existing or prospective small business owner. Counselors will be available by appointment only. For more information call 953-6007 or 740-6160.

Costs for the new center are minimal, officials said, since staff already working in the North Charleston office will now spread their time between the two offices. The Citadel has provided the space.

The primary difference between the area’s two centers is that the North Charleston office has more staff in the office and a wider range of hours.

Green said the new center fits with The Citadel’s effort to be more involved in the economic growth of the region. In the past year, the school has had a class of students doing similar consulting projects for larger, more established companies in the area. Other outreach projects are in the works, he said.

During the 2008 calendar year, Lenti said the state’s Small Business Development Centers served 2,288 clients.