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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. g..e <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: September 7, 1999 <br />SUBJECT: 1999-2000 Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) Contract <br />DEPARTMENT: Economic Development Commission PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) _No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />SBTDC Contract <br />Quarterly Reports from SBTDC <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Dianne Reid <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: - -ext. <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: <br />The purpose of this contract is to continue support of small business development as stated in the <br />Economic Development Strategic Plan as adopted May 14, 1996. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The Orange County Economic Development Commission Strategic Plan focuses on assistance to <br />small business. The Small Business and Technology Center (SBTDC) provides significant services <br />to local businesses. The commitment is for $10,000 to be paid in two installments of $5,000 each. <br />The first is to be paid on or about November 15, 1999, and the second on or about April 15, 2000. <br />This is a continuation of the contract Orange County has had with SBTDC since 1990. <br />During 1998, over two hundred-twenty Orange County businesses and prospective businesses <br />received business counseling from the Small Business and Technology Development Center <br />(SBTDC) regional office in Chapel Hill. Each year, the Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />provides $10,000 support for this office through the Economic Development Commission's budget. <br />Orange County business owners receiving assistance included residents of Carrboro, Cedar Grove, <br />Efland, Hillsborough, Mebane and Rougement, as well as residents of Chapel Hill. The number of <br />counseling hours spent with Orange County businesses totaled almost 1,200, and included advice on <br />business start-up, sources of capital, marketing and sales, financial analysis/cost control, <br />technology, inventory control, and international trade. <br />In the final two quarters of 1998, the regional SBTDC assisted small business clients in obtaining <br />more than $1.5 million in financing. The work of the SBTDC office staff during the year resulted <br />in the creation and/or retention of 132 jobs, about half of which were in Orange County. <br />Additionally, in 1999-2000, the SBTDC will provide technical assistance, business plan and loan <br />