March 15, 2023 (Newark, NJ) – The NJSBDC network, also known as New Jersey’s Small Business Development Centers, joined SBDCs nationwide to celebrate SBDC on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Nearly 1,000 offices nationally join in promoting #SBDC Day, which is marked by sharing small business success stories and network impact that the program has had on the lives of entrepreneurs and small business operations in generating new businesses and additional economic development in communities throughout the country.
In New Jersey, the NJSBDC’s impact speaks for itself. Since 2020, the NJSBDC has helped generate over $7.25 Billion in sales revenues for the state of NJ, helped facilitate over $275 million in capital formation, helped open 857 new businesses, and supported over 3,200 jobs.
“#SBDC Day is for us to share with everyone what we do, why we do it, and to make sure that every current and prospective business owner knows we’re here to help and guide them as we have helped other NJ businesses over the past 45+ years”, says Kelly Brozyna, CEO and State Director of the NJSBDC network.
Additional impact of the NJSBDC network, detailed in the NJSBDC’s 2022 Annual Report, includes sponsoring 2,349 training events, training more than 41,000 prospective and current small business owners, and providing over 42,000 hours in expert business counseling.
Ms. Brozyna continues, “We are so proud of the work that we do. We have the best job in the world: Helping businesses succeed and thrive!”
Apparently, the message of how the NJSBDC can help businesses has gotten out. Recent NJSBDC Success Awardee Marcela Tapiero, owner of Your Dreamwall® (Prospect Park, NJ), shares, “The NJSBDC has changed our company in many ways for the better. We have been able to gain new partnerships and open opportunities for employment and internship positions. We are excited for what the future holds and the impact we will be able to make on youth through the DOE services, college students, women empowerment workshops, and corporations to build positive team-building activities.”
Reflecting on her work with the NJSBDC, Lauren Borawski, Co-Owner of Child’s Play Challenge Courses (Scotch Plains, NJ) says, “When my husband, Matt, and I started Child’s Play Challenge Courses, we knew that it had the potential to be very successful, but we lacked the business experience to know our next steps. Matt and I invested every penny we had in our start-up, and we couldn’t afford the professional counsel we very much needed. We are so fortunate to have found the NJSBDC. We can say with great confidence that had it not been for the advice we received from their expert team; we would have potentially wasted time and money going in the wrong direction to grow our business. The NJSBDC has and continues to be an important part of our growth.”
Nationally commemorating #SBDC Day, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Guzman posted a message via YouTube encouraging small business owners to access SBDCs for comprehensive assistance and guidance.
America’s SBDC designated this year’s #SBDC Day theme as “Reimagining Main Street”, focusing on how through dynamic engagement at the local level, SBDCs are helping their clients rethink how their business should operate.
According to the most recent Chrisman Survey, which collected data from national SBDC clients in 2020-2021, America’s SBDCs provide measurable economic results. Nationwide SBDCs helped generate 85,094 jobs, $10.1 billion in sales growth, $7.7 billion in capital investments, and helped start 14,487 new businesses – proving that SBDCs are leaders in job creation and economic growth.
More details are provided in the 2023 America’s SBDC Annual Report.
America’s SBDCs help make the dreams of small business ownership and growth a reality for more Americans — creating jobs and opportunities that reimagine main streets throughout the nation. See America’s SBDC Annual Report online at www.sbdcimpact.org. To view NJ’s section of America’s SBDC Annual Report, go to https://www.sbdcimpact.org/nj.
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About America’s SBDC New Jersey (NJSBDC)
The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers network, one of the first national pilot projects, has provided comprehensive services and programs for small businesses in New Jersey for over 45 years. SBDC business staff, business consultants, and experts help businesses expand their operations, manage their growth, or start new ventures. The network is equipped to help small business owners and entrepreneurs develop business plans, find financing, accounting, and financial analysis, identify new markets, initiate marketing strategies, find procurement and international trade opportunities, learn green sustainability practices, commercialize technology, and develop an e-commerce presence. This non-profit network is a federal-state educational partnership, leveraging funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the NJ Business Action Center, the 11 educational host institutions, private sponsorships, and additional private/public grants, and has approximately 1,000 centers and satellite offices serving small businesses and generating economic development across the country. The NJSBDC Headquarters, located at the Rutgers Business School in Newark, NJ, oversees the network, an accredited member of America’s SBDC. Visit www.njsbdc.com.
