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El Paso Community College
Workforce/Economic
Development & Continuing Education
New Director Wants SBDC to be
More Active in the Community
They employ half
of
all
private
sector emVice President
Instruction
ployees, pay 45% of the
United States private
Dr. Olga L. Valerio
payroll and have generDean
ated 60 to 80% of new
Advanced Technology
jobs annually over the
Center
last decade.
Small businesses
Directors
are major contributors
Barry Bogle
to local economies by
Law Enforcement Training
bringing growth and
Academy
innovation to the comJoe Ferguson is new SBDC director
Marta de la Fuente
munity and by providHealth and Fitness
Kathleen López
ing employment opportunities to people who may not be employaBusiness/Industry
ble by large corporations. According the U.S, Business AdministraTraining &
tion (SBA), small businesses are extremely important to the U.S.
Personal Enrichment
economy. Small companies represent 99.7% of all employer firms.
Sara Martínez
Since 1995, small businesses have generated 64% of new jobs and
Workplace Literacy
paid 44% of the total United States private payroll, according to
Luz Taboada
Workforce Development the SBA.
Small businesses, however, fail frequently after the first
Mary Yáñez
Senior Adult Program
year, often the result of poor planning rather than economic condiJoe Ferguson
tions. With the help of the El Paso Community College Small BusiSBDC
ness Development Center (SDBC), small business owners and proJoseph Conway
spective entrepreneurs can avoid many of the perils that doom
Manager
small businesses before they take off.
Contract Opportunities
“We want to become more active in the community,” said Mr.
Center
Joe Ferguson, new director of El Paso Community College Small
Business Development Center. “One of the problems we continualCOORDINATORS
ly run into as an organization is that people don’t know we exist.
Sabrina Campbell
James Coe
We hear that all the time.”
Steven E. Smith
Customized Training
Olaya Cázares
Finance
David Olivas
Compliance
Dolores M. Pavia
Associate Registrar
Continues on Page 2
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is the largest management and technical
assistance program for small businesses in the United States. Enacted by the U.S. Congress
in 1980, the program is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and
is supported by Congressional Appropriations. The program is operated by state governments and hosted by universities and colleges under cooperative agreement. The program
enhances the development of small businesses through counseling, technical assistance and
training services.
Continues from page 1
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Mr. Ferguson added that most of the SBDC
work comes from bank referrals, the SBA and other
organizations. He said that the SBDC has partnered with Chase Bank in many projects and it
proved beneficial to both parties.
“We need to do a better job of marketing ourselves. Our plans are to hold more events, to partner with other organizations in town like the chambers of commerce, the Veteran’s Administration,
the Contract Opportunities Center and the banks.
We need to do more outreach work. Getting more
partnerships with banks is one of our goals this year. Our second emphasis is to get back
in touch with clients we have serviced in the last 10 years to see if we can help them
again. People get into business, they get very focused in trying to make their business
successful and they run into obstacles. Business owners are constantly putting out fires.
We want to let them know we are here, we can still help them and our services are still
free,” said the new SBDC director.
Mr. Ferguson says the SBDC can help a client in many ways. “When a client steps
into our office, we ask them about their needs, what do they want to accomplish and
hopefully we are able to provide what they need. Often, people come into our office without a business plan. We take all the ideas they have and try to turn them into a viable
plan. We don’t claim to know everything, but we also offer a great referral service.”
He added: “If a client comes to us with a question, and we don’t have a good answer
for him/her, we refer the client to somebody who knows the answer. Give us a day or two
and we’ll have the answer for you.”
Mr. Ferguson says undercapitalization is still the No. 1 obstacle to a successful
business, but he says the main problem for new entrepreneurs is that they haven’t done
their research prior to opening a business.
“The want to start a business and they want to jump quick into it. They might have
the capital and hang an ‘open for business’ sign, but it doesn’t work like that any more.
New owners have to first research the location of the business to make sure the traffic is
there. Is your product needed in the market? Do you know about money and finances?
Do you know if you are making a profit? Underfunding and lack of education are the two
main things that keep a business from being successful.”
The SBDC offers free help in these areas
*Business Start-up
*Capital Formation
*Business Planning
*Business Analysis
*SBA Financing Programs
*Research
*Product Development
& Commercialization
*Financial Forecasting
*Minority Enterprise Certification
*International Trade
*Manufacturing
*Sales and Marketing
*Government Contracting
*Training
El Paso County Community College District does no discriminate on the basis of race, color, national
origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.