PRESS RELEASE – Business Oregon Awards $3 Million to Support Small Business Growth

Thank you, Business Oregon, for this generous support granting Rogue Community College a portion of these funds. Congrats to RCC SBDC for rising to the occasion for this very competitive award!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – APRIL 16, 2024

Business Oregon Awards $3 Million to Support Small Business Growth

Business Oregon is pleased to announce an award of $3 million to 15 currently operating Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to improve their services to Oregon small businesses. The SBDCs assist clients with business plan preparation, financial management, personnel management, and marketing. The SBDCs also help facilitate access to capital by bridging the gap between small businesses seeking capital and lenders looking for qualified buyers.

The SBDCs are hosted by Oregon’s 17 community colleges, Eastern Oregon University, Southern Oregon University, and the Columbia Economic Team. SBDCs are embedded in places across the state where collaboration is at a premium.

Business Oregon released a Request for Grant Applications (RFGA) in December 2023 that was targeted at Oregon’s 20 SBDCs. Twenty-three requests for assistance were received, of which 21 met the eligibility criteria laid out in the RFGA. The total requested amount from the eligible applications was approximately $4.2 million.

With only $3 million available to award, the 10-member review committee thoroughly combed through each application and rated it based on the entity’s intended collaboration with other community partners, demonstrated need, overall project approach, anticipated project impact, implementation plan, and budget. The review committee was comprised of Business Oregon staff and partners.

The applications for this funding were extremely competitive. The 15 SBDCs receiving awards are listed below.

• Central Oregon Community College SBDC
• Klamath Community College SBDC
• Blue Mountain Community College SBDC
• Columbia Gorge Community College SBDC
• Clackamas Community College SBDC
• Rogue Community College SBDC
• Lane Community College SBDC
• Oregon Coast Community College SBDC
• Umpqua Community College SBDC
• Southwestern Oregon Community College SBDC
• Linn-Benton Community College SBDC
• Portland Community College SBDC
• Hood Community College SBDC
• Clatsop Community College SBDC
• Chemeketa Community College SBDC

SBDCs are an incredibly valuable resource for small businesses. During 2020, the statewide SBDC network tallied over 23,000 hours of client counseling. Between March and June of 2020, Oregon’s SBDCs provided almost 6,000 hours of COVID-specific client counseling and helped secure over $35 million in SBA loans alone to enable Oregon businesses to retain employees and cover operating costs.

Additionally, Oregon SBDC has established a network of support to serve Spanish-speaking business owners and communities through Negocio en Español. Services target established Latino-owned or operated businesses with advising to expand business productivity through market research, capital acquisition and strategic planning.

To learn more about our local SBDC at RCC in Grants Pass, visit RCC Small Business Development Center (roguecc.edu)

To learn more about the Oregon SBDC network, visit www.oregon.gov/biz/. For feedback on any of the applications, SBDC directors can submit their written requests to Jeff Stell at Jeff.Stell@biz.oregon.gov.