February 25, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, AL — M. William Campbell Jr., M.B.A., has been named state director of the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium (ASBDC). He replaces Dan Osborn, who has been interim director since August 2002.
The Alabama Small Business Development Consortium enhances the state’s economic growth by making Alabama’s small businesses more competitive. Working with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the organization provides assistance with a variety of needs, including business planning, financing, exporting and importing, and government contract procurement.
“There can be no better economic mission than to create jobs that increase the standard of living,” Campbell said. “In recent history, because of the technological revolution and the business cycle, the number one engine of job growth has been small business development. The ASBDC and its affiliated centers are one of the greatest resources in small business development growth.”
The ASBDC, housed at UAB’s Office for the Advancement of Developing Industries (OADI) at the UAB Research Park, oversees 10 small business development centers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of North Alabama, Jacksonville State University, Alabama State University, Auburn University, University of West Alabama and University of South Alabama. The Alabama International Trade Center in Tuscaloosa also is managed by the ASBDC.
ECONOMICS OF SUCCESS
The economic impact of these centers is felt statewide. The ASBDC’s Procurement Technical Assistance Program has helped members businesses obtain more than $2 billion in contracts from federal, state and local agencies since its inception in 1980. In 2002 the program helped secure $438 million in contracts and helped create or maintain more than 10,000 jobs.
Campbell said that even with the huge economic impact the ASBDC and its centers have, one of the greatest challenges facing the program is funding. Over the last several years, funding from the state has fallen more than 30 percent and the consortium is losing federal funds because it cannot match that money with state funds.
“My vision for the ASBDC is for it to be the organization that becomes the major catalyst to the economic success of small business in the state of Alabama,” Campbell said. “There are more than 86,000 small business in the state, which accounts for more than 97 percent of all business in the state. For Alabama’s small businesses to move forward, we need support from state government to help these people succeed.”
NEW INITATIVES
Campbell said one of the first initiatives the office will begin under his leadership is the new pilot SBA lending program CommunityExpress. CommunityExpress is available to selected lenders in predesignated geographic areas that historically have not had large numbers of small businesses or programs to encourage them. This streamlined system offers government assisted SBA loans to small businesses and includes free technical assistance from approved small business counselors.
“This will provide people wanting to start businesses, such as a landscaping company or a beauty salon, an unsecured $5,000 to $6,000 loan without having to go through red tape,” Campbell said. “The loans will come though banks and will offer low- to moderate-income individuals small business opportunities. We are now working to identify areas of Alabama considered the unbanked sector of the microbusiness community and will launch the program in these areas this coming summer.”
For more information on the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium and its small business development centers, log on to www.asbdc.org.