Mason SBDC

Since 1989, Mason Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at George Mason University - Mason Enterprise Center at the Office of University Research and Economic Development has been assisting small business owners in Northern Virginia. Mason SBDC is a non-profit organization that provides one-on-one
counseling services to small businesses in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William Counties at no cost to their clients. Official Website
Services
Offering expert consultation and training to entrepreneurs throughout Northern Virginia since 1989, Mason SBDC helps small business owners navigate
the sometimes overwhelming array of resources available from the public sector.
The center provides no cost one-on-one counseling services to small business owners in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William counties in
Virginia. The Mason SBDC Volunteer Network is comprised of professionals from local law firms, CPA firms,
banks and seasoned entrepreneurs .
Counseling Service Area
*Accounting
*Business Planning
*Capital Formation
*Cash Management
*Finance
*M&A
*Marketing
*Operations
*Sales
*Strategic Planning
Other Service
The center also periodically hosts networking events for local entrepreneurs.
Figures
Tasked with creating jobs and revenue in the region it serves, Mason SBDC counseled with over 480 businesses in 2010. Mason SBDC also logged more than 1,000 hours of client contact and helped small businesses raise over $10 million in capital formation. The Mason SBDC also helped create 230 jobs and retain 960 jobs in 2010.
Sponsors
One of 29 SBDCs throughout the state, Mason SBDC is part of the Mason Enterprise Center, which is housed within the Office of University Research and Economic Development. Along with receiving financial support from the university, Mason SBDC is also funded by Virginia SBDC and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
History of the SBDC
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to small businesses. The SBA was created by way of the Small Business Act of July 30, 1953. The Small Business Development Center program grew out of the University Business Development Center (UBDC) program. A 1976 press release announcing the UBDC proclaimed that this new concept “could increase substantially the leverage SBA can provide in counseling and advising small business concerns.” The pilot program for the UBDC was established at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona in 1976. Throughout 1977 seven more universities received funding, including Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, and Maine.
By 1979, the UBDC program was renamed the SBDC program, and pilot centers existed at sixteen states across the U.S. By 1980, performance surveys of SBDC clients, as well as existing small business owners, saw fit to expand the SBDC project throughout the country. On July 2, 1980, President Carter signed into law the Small Business Development Act of 1980. This act provided $8.5 million in annual funding. In 1984, a program was established in New York State..
The SBA in a 1985 report noted that, “Several SBDC’s have established separate International Trade Centers (ITC) as part of their state-wide operations. These international trade centers are currently located in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.”.
An SBDC was established in Guam in 1995 and in May 2000, the 58th SBDC program was established when the SBA funded an SBDC program for American Samoa. In 2004, federal lawmakers reauthorized the SBDC program for two additional years, at a funding level of $135,000,000.

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