SBDC helping businesses in Randolph County

<span>The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) made its monthly visit to the Randolph County Courthouse on July 24, continuing its mission to further business development in the region.</span>

<span>The SBDC is hosted by SIU in Carbondale and has five advisors dedicated to starting and growing businesses in Southern Illinois, according to its website.</span>

<span>"Our center is funded by the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity," said Greg Bouhl, assistant director of entrepreneurship and business development at SIU. "Our goal is to provide assistance to people who want to expand an existing business or start a new business."</span>

<span>Chris Martin, coordinator of Randolph County Economic Development said the SBDC had two clients during its visit last week.</span>

<span>"We have to maintain their privacy, but there were a couple of really good ideas," said Martin, who added the clients are brand-new businesses. "One was an embroidery/screen print business and the other is a speciality store, that's all I can say."</span>

<span>The specialty store would be based in Chester, while the other unnamed business would be somewhere else in the county.</span>

<span>The SBDC contributes a variety of services - including helping clients develop a business plan, marketing strategy and provide advice on how to get access to funds to get started</span>

<span>"When you're faced with marketing against Walmart, you have to be pretty focused on how you go about it," Martin said. "You want to pick something that will be competitive enough to create enough profit margin to make a living."</span>

<span>There are a variety of online websites dedicated to fundraising, with Go Fund Me and Kickstarter as two popular ones.</span>

<span>"We've had a few clients successfully get funding through Kickstarter," Bouhl said. "It's a way for people to get their product in front of people and do pre-orders.</span>

<span>"What I like about it is you can get that idea out there and you get those pre-orders and then you have an idea of whether you have a hit or not."</span>

<span>Illinois is a notoriously tough state when it comes to business reputation. A Gallup survey, released in April and conducted from June to December 2013, showed 50 percent of the state's residents surveyed would leave the state if they could.</span>

<span>Connecticut (49 percent) and Maryland (47 percent) rounded out the top three. People primarily blamed work and business-related reasons.</span>

<span>"We're very, very fortunate here because we have mining and tourism and manufacturing and our economy is healthy," Martin said. "I think if people want to work, they are working."</span>

<span>Martin said the Randolph County Economic Development has been actively helping Mississippi Lime establish a mine in Prairie du Rocher and is encouraged by future projects.</span>

<span>"There are companies that are not ready to reveal their plans, but there is potential for 50 to 100 newly-created manufacturing jobs," he said.</span>

<span>The next visit of the SBDC is scheduled for next month, but the date has yet to be determined. For more information, contact the SBDC at 618-536-2424 or sbdc@siu.edu.</span>