The Governor’s new budget proposal zeros out State funding for our Small Business Development Center (SBDC) over the next two years. Previously the State provided $440,000 per year as a match to the $770,000 per year provided by the SBA. The SBA requires a 50% cash match which is why we are so concerned about the Governor’s proposal.
As most of you know, the SBDC is hosted by Paul College and is one of our key outreach programs to small businesses in NH. The team did amazing work to support NH small businesses as they worked to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, they served over 7,000 businesses through direct advising and training.
For those of you who value and collaborate with the SBDC and want to support our efforts to appeal to the Legislature to restore funding, please reach out this week to the House Finance Division 1 Committee to Respectfully request that the State Legislature restore funding for the NH Small Business Development Center in the state budget to a minimum of $440,000 per year in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
Liz Gray and the SBDC team are doing a great job mobilizing support from clients, Chambers of Commerce, and influencers. Here is some of the press that has come out in the past 10 days.
There has been a lot of local media coverage calling for reinstatement of the funding:
- NHBR - State budget proposal decimates support NH SBDC
- WMUR - Local entrepreneurs question proposed cut to NH SBDC
- Fosters/Seacoast - Governor Chris Sununu’s small business development cuts questioned
- WMUR - Weekend Business - Fred Kocher’s show
- Keene Sentinel - Locals concerned over proposed state cuts to small-business center
- Concord Monitor - [Perspective of a client]
The hashtag for social media is #SaveNHSBDC. I have done some posts on LinkedIn if you are interested in sharing to amplify the message.
If you would like to help us reinstate funding, please see our outreach plan and key talking points on the attached #SaveNHSBDC.
Deborah
Deborah Merrill-Sands, Ph.D.
Dean
Paul College of Business and Economics
University of New Hampshire
603-862-1983
LinkedIn; Instagram
Zoom /dmerrillsands
