The mission of the Ventura SBDC is to strengthen existing business entities and assist start-ups through high-quality, no-cost counseling, and high-quality, affordable training programs.
SBDC primarily offers free consulting services with startup businesses making up a smaller portion of their caseload. Since SBDC consultants are paid they are required to provide more documentation than SCORE mentors and need to justify their work by the client showing progress in actually starting a business, receiving funding, and either hiring additional staff or preventing layoffs. They are much more involved in clients in manufacturing or import/export businesses. They generally are also better to serve clients looking for loans or other funding as the host agency, EDC, has a loan fund and in-house loan officer. The Ventura SBDC has few educational webinars or workshops.
SBDC has Centers that are hosted by an entity that matches the SBA funding. Generally, these host agencies are educational institutions. In Southern California, the SBDC hosted by the Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County is the only center not hosted by a college. The SBDC staff is paid as employees or contractors, no volunteers. The SBDC consultants that work with clients are also paid for their services. Our Ventura SBDC is one of the strongest SBDCs in the country.
Clients may be better served by SBDC if they have the following circumstances:
- Need help with obtaining a loan
- Need assistance with SBA programs for lending/grants
- Have complicated import/export issues or questions
