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Big help available for small businesses

Builder finds a niche – with help from the small business center at CSUMB

Like many small business owners, Shawn Bakker was doing fine until the recession hit.

“I’d just go from one job to the next,” said Bakker, who moved to Salinas from his native Colorado and founded his company, Bakker Construction, in 2008.

A year later, he realized that he needed to be proactive in his approach, rather than simply react to the economy. That’s when his lender referred him to the Small Business Development Center at CSU Monterey Bay for help.

Working with adviser Keith Holtaway, he developed strategies and refined tactics that resulted in a shift in his target market to home remodeling and improvements for small businesses.

By September of 2010, Bakker had hired eight new employees and increased sales by over $800,000. He continues to work with the SDBC and expects to reach $1 million in business this year.

For his success, Bakker has earned the 2011 Entrepreneurial Success Award from the SBDC’s regional office in Merced.

Bakker is just one example of the impact the SBDC has had in the area.

Since it opened its doors in late 2009, the center has provided 2,475 hours of service to more than 200 businesses. It has trained 500 people, created 41 jobs, assisted with the start-up of 11 businesses, helped its clients increase sales by nearly $2 million, and helped with nearly $1 million of capital infusion (from loans or owner investment).

The center provides management and technical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs in the area long the Highway 101 corridor from Gilroy to King City. From offices in Gonzales, Salinas, Hollister and Gilroy, as well as the CSUMB campus, the center provides critical services to small business owners, helping to create and retain jobs in order to strengthen the local economy.

Help is available to develop business plans, secure financing, assist with marketing needs, set up financial systems, determine plans for expansion, project cash flow, identify technology needs and provide a variety of other services helpful to small businesses. In addition to the free one-on-one consulting, the center offers a variety of workshops and seminars. CSUMB’s center comes under the auspices of the University of California Merced’s SBDC regional network, a fully accredited and nationally recognized program. University faculty members make up about half of the 20 people available to give entrepreneurs free advice. “We’ve got quite a large skill set” of counselors, said Andrea Zeller-Nield, associate director of the center. Some of the counselors have knowledge of key local industries, such as wine and agriculture. To learn more, click here.

This cooperative agreement is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the University of California, Merced. SBA's funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions or services. SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).