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ORAN(CE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: March 21, 2006 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No..~i cx <br />SUBJECT: 2005-2006 SBTDC 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: To renew a contract to continue support of small business development services <br />for Orange County citizens, as stated in the Economic Development Strategic Plan adapted May <br />14, 1996, and reaffirmed by the Economic Development Commission in its new strategic plan, <br />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 Technclogy 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 April 15, 2006 and the second on or about June 15, 2006. <br />During calendar year 2005, the SBTDC staff (which included one bi-lingual counselor) served <br />212 Orange County clients far a total of 1,992 hours of counseling time with an additicnal 200 <br />hours of travel time. Nearly 50 percent of clients were non-white and nearly 50 percent were <br />women-awned businesses. Businesses were evenly split between existing businesses and <br />those just forming their enterprises; 17 were home-based businesses. <br />Additionally, the SBTDC helped 13 Orange County businesses secure $8.6 million in capital (the <br />majority of this from federal Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology <br />Transfer Program grants to small businesses doing innovative research). Attachment B <br />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. <br />