SBA renews annual $1.8 million grant to state network

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The U.S. Small Business Administration has renewed its $1.8 million annual grant to the South Carolina Small Business Development Center Network.

The funding, renewed this month, will allow the network to continue its 42-year mission of providing S.C. small business owners and entrepreneurs with consulting and education resources, according to a news release. State networks are funded by the SBA through a matching grant that includes financial and in-kind contributions from private enterprise, state and local governments, institutions of higher learning and local economic development organizations.

The S.C. Small Business Development Center Network will use the funding to sustain its 20 statewide centers and 50 consultants and staff. The grant will also help pay for office space, equipment, supplies and other operating expenses.

“We are very grateful to our SBDC partners for equipping South Carolina entrepreneurs with the tools they need to start, grow, expand, and recover,” Gregg White, district director for the South Carolina District Office, said in the release. “This past year, the SC SBDC network assisted over 22,000 clients in the state. They helped start 143 new businesses and created and retained almost 4,000 jobs in South Carolina. They are a vital asset to the economic growth in our state, and to our district office.”

In 2020, the SC Small Business Development Centers network assisted more than four times the number of small businesses and entrepreneurs served in a typical year, according to the release. S.C. clients obtained $77.1 million in capital formation and $3.4 million in government contracts.

The network is hosted by a consortium of four state universities: Clemson, the University of South Carolina, S.C. State and Winthrop, with other colleges and universities acting as local hosts.