Jim Mishefske, Director of The Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, accepts statewide and regional award.

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire offers expert analysis and counseling at no cost to small and growing businesses. The center advises clients on a wide variety of topics including business plans, financial projections, and funding strategies. In recognition of the positive impact the UW-Eau Claire SBDC has had on small businesses growth and startup in the region, the center earned a statewide award from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SBA Wisconsin District Director Eric Ness announced that the Eau Claire Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has won the organization’s 2013 Small Business Development Center Service Excellence Award for Wisconsin. Director Jim Mishefske will receive the award at the annual SBA Awards Ceremony in Milwaukee on May 31.

“It is so exciting to support businesses as they grow and become successful.” Mishefske said. “It has been a pleasure to serve the entrepreneurs and small businesses of Northwestern Wisconsin.”

The Eau Claire SBDC center has developed unique partnerships with economic development organizations in Northwest Wisconsin that have resulted in greater access to UW-Eau Claire resources and a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Jim’s efforts to reach out to the areas surrounding Eau Claire have brought the SBDC’s services to a broader constituency and to more small businesses in the region,” according to Eric Ness, SBA’s Wisconsin District Director.  “Developing and maintaining those key relationships will continue to make the difference for businesses and will enable the SBA to make its programs more available in Northwest Wisconsin.”

Since 1979, the UW-Eau Claire Small Business Center’s experienced business professionals and university faculty have taught seminars, answered questions, and counseled managers and business owners in all types of business settings.

The UW-Eau Claire SBDC is part of the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center Network. Through no-cost confidential consulting and business education, the Wisconsin SBDC provides knowledge, tools and resources that business owners and entrepreneurs need to succeed. Centers at each of the four-year UW campuses provide consulting to companies with fewer than 500 employees on topics that include financial planning, capital acquisition, marketing, operations management and business formation.  The Wisconsin SBDC is hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Extension Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development and is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For release April 30, 2013

Contact: Gayle Kugler, State Director, gayle.kugler@uwex.edu, 608-263-7794