Shippensburg University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has been selected to receive the 2017 U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center Excellence and Innovation Award. The award winner is selected annually from among nominees located across Pennsylvania’s eastern 40 counties.
“It’s wonderful to have the privilege to recognize the achievements of stellar small business resource partners like Shippensburg University’s SBDC,” said Antonio Leta, director of the U.S. SBA Eastern Pennsylvania District.
The SU SBDC provides no-cost confidential consulting and low cost training to small business owners and potential entrepreneurs in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties. The SU SBDC is part of a statewide network of colleges and university centers which, is a joint venture of federal, state and private sector agencies and organizations including the US Small Business Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development.
“Ship’s SBDC has been a critical resource in the community for ten years. Last year they helped 41 companies get started, which resulted in 200 jobs. We are thankful for everything they’ve done for the economy of Pennsylvania,” said Christian Conroy, state director of Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers.
In addition to providing resources for area entrepreneurs, the SBDC offers hands-on learning to students as part of a unique entrepreneurial eco-system in the Grove College of Business, that includes the Brad E. Hollinger Stock Trading Room and the Charles H. Diller Jr. Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation.
“The SBDC directly addresses all three of Ship’s strategic directions. I applaud the center for the their excellence and innovation, its role in providing distinctive opportunities for student learning and engagement and most of all for how well they have excelled at community and regional collaboration through robust client services and documented economic impact,” said Dr. Barbara Lyman, interim president of Shippensburg University.
“While it is a great honor for our SBDC team to win this SBA award in recognition of their talent, dedication, and passion – it’s even greater honor to see the impact of our work in the community: the entrepreneurs we helped to achieve their dream of starting their own businesses in just the past year,” said Dr. Michael Unruh, director of the Shippensburg University Small Business Development Center.
The center will be presented their award during an SBA awards dinner on May 24.