Christian Conroy sees some reasons for optimism during an economic climate that seems to lack positivity.
Conroy, director of Pennsylvania's 18 Small Business Development Centers, points to a recent report that analyzed the impact of these centers nationwide. The results showed that in 2010, Pennsylvania's SBDCs resulted in the launch of about 1,600 new businesses and more than $551 million in new sales. Overall, revenue at companies assisted by the state's centers rose 12.9 percent in that time frame.
More good news can be inferred from Conroy's observation that the performance of businesses his centers assist tends to show where the economy as a whole is headed. “The types of businesses that the SBDCs work with are a harbinger of the larger economy,” he says. About half of its clients provide various services, another fifth are in manufacturing and about 15 percent are retailers, he says.
The economic downturn means that quite a few entrepreneurs started their businesses out of necessity, even though others purposefully struck out on their own to take advantage of weaknesses they saw in the marketplace. “You never know whose business model is going to turn into something transformative,” Conroy says. “The next Facebook or Google is probably going to be created during this time period.”
No matter why they begin, successful businesses are good for the state's economy. The report showed that SBDC-assisted companies created more than 7,100 new jobs last year.
Source: Christian Conroy, Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
