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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: January 23, 2007 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. ?- <br />SUBJECT: 2006-2007 Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) <br />Contract Renewal <br />DEPARTMENT: Economic Development PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />A. SBTDC Contract Dianne Reid, 245-2326 <br />B. Orange County Success Stories <br />PURPOSE: The purpose of this contract renewal is to continue support of small business <br />development services for Orange County citizens, as stated in the Economic Development <br />Strategic Plan adopted May 14, 1996, and reaffirmed by the Economic Development <br />Commission in its new strategic plan, Investing in Innovation: 2005-2010. <br />BACKGROUND: A primary goal of the Economic Development Commission since its inception <br />has been providing assistance to small businesses to enable them to grow and prosper in <br />Orange County. The Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) provides <br />significant services to local businesses and has operated under contract with Orange County <br />since 1990. The contract provides for $10,000 to be paid in two installments of $5,000 each. <br />The first is to be paid on or about January 31, 2007, and the second on or about June 30, 2007. <br />During calendar year 2006, the SBTDC served 217 Orange County clients for a total of 2,992 <br />hours of counseling time with an additional 94 hours of travel time. Nearly 34 percent of clients <br />were non-white and nearly 45 percent were women-owned businesses. Businesses were <br />evenly split between existing businesses and those just forming their enterprises; 25 were <br />home-based businesses (up from 17 the previous year). <br />Additionally, the SBTDC helped 11 Orange County businesses secure $6.7 million in capital (the <br />majority of this from Small Business Administration technology grants to small businesses doing <br />innovative research). Attachment B describes local business success stories for last year. <br />Annual economic impact assessments undertaken at the state level (performed by an <br />independent assessment. firm) show that SBTDC clients significantly outperform the average for <br />all North Carolina small businesses in both sales and employment growth.