Supporting entrepreneurs

Small business owners are under a lot of pressure these days. Consider the small businesses in Baltimore, Maryland, that are coping with the aftereffects from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on March 26.

For example, where is a small business to turn for help if it can't make payroll that is tied to port operations or needs to replenish - and pay for - inventory that it already had budgeted and assumed the cost of once, but now might never arrive?

Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) are a key support system for situations like this.

SBDCs work to help small businesses secure funding and training they need to succeed. This can include adapting to realities like inflation, building a proper business plan, securing credit, finding employees and even weathering unexpected events like a bridge collapse.

Delaware's Small Business Development Center (Delaware SBDC) is housed at the University of Delaware and is a unit of the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships. As such, Delaware SBDC supports small businesses in the state, helping to drive innovation and power the state's economy.

Last month, Delaware SBDC brought together federal small business leaders, local partners and small business clients to celebrate the 1,000 centers doing similar work across the nation for SBDC Day 2024 on March 20. The event, held at the FinTech Innovation Hub on UD's Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, included a very special guest - Mark Madrid, associate administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Entrepreneurial Development.

Madrid shared in remarks that he is a third-generation Mexican American from a farming community in the Texas Panhandle. His father worked in the cotton industry but saw an opportunity to create something different through entrepreneurship. So, his parents started a welding business during Madrid's childhood, leading to many family lessons in grit and determination.