1-29-97
Contacts:
Ron Manning, Small Business Development Center, 800-373-
7232
Michelle Johnson, News Service, (515) 294-8986
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER A REAL BARGAIN FOR IOWA
BUSINESSES
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa taxpayers and small businesses received big returns from Federal and State tax dollars spent on the Iowa Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program, a new study by a Canadian economist indicates. The Iowa Small Business Development Center is headquartered at Iowa State University's College of Business.
The study, conducted by James J. Chrisman, an economist at the University of Calgary, Alberta, said "The state of Iowa receives $11 back for every $1 invested in the SBDC."
Chrisman's study of nearly 6,000 Iowa small businesses which received SBDC assistance in 1994 revealed that SBDC clients grew faster, created more jobs and made more profits than businesses which did not take advantage of SBDC services. State income and sales tax revenues from SBDC client companies averaged substantially higher than those from non- client businesses, the study showed.
According to the study, SBDC client companies garnered $116.3 million in investment funding in 1994, well above the average rate for all Iowa Businesses. Client companies also increased employment four times as much as non-SBDC client companies. 1994 SBDC clients created 2,650 new jobs in the state, one of the best returns per dollar spent on all economic development programs, the study showed.
"This is good news for Iowa," said Ron Manning, state director of the Iowa SBDC. "This careful survey study shows that SBDC is a wise investment for both state and federal government. It validates the positive economic impact of the SBDC on Iowa's small businesses. We expect returns from our 1996 study to be even better."
The Iowa SBDC has business counseling centers at sixteen colleges and universities across the state. The SBDC helps small companies (fewer than 500 employees) with a variety of business matters including financing, marketing, business planning, exporting and information technology.
--30--
Diana Pounds, University Relations, dpounds@iastate.edu
Iowa State homepage
Copyright © 1997, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.iastate.edu/general/releases/SmBusCtr.html
Revised 1/29/97