NEWS ARCHIVE

August 12, 2008

Study: SBTDC created 175 jobs

From Asheville Citizen-Times, Staff Reports

CULLOWHEE — Western Carolina University’s Small Business and Technology Development Center helped local companies create 175 jobs and retain an additional 287 employees who would have been laid off in 2007. Those figures were included in the center’s annual economic impact report for 2007, released late last week.

The report also indicates that SBTDC client companies reported increased revenues of $10.3 million in 2007 and obtained nearly $18 million in investment from loans, venture capital and owner investment.

A program of WCU’s College of Business, the SBTDC provided more than 4,000 hours of free, confidential counseling to 565 clients. Nearly 90 percent of all SBTDC clients in 2007 were small business owners; the rest were would-be entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations and local governments.

The SBTDC serves 14 counties of Western North Carolina. For information, call 227-3441 or write wcagle@sbtdc.org.