The SBDC follow-up is very important to helping them stay in business, which is our goal. In some instances the SBDC can provide start-ups with direct assistance from the SBA Microloan Program. Vargo mentions one successful loan to a woman opening a home-based secretarial service. For the most part, however, what the SBDC offers isn't money but a sort of tough love for fledgling entrepreneurs. You have your ego on the line.
Residents feel more comfortable when the consultant is part of the county.
He sees the SBDC presence as enabling Greene County residents to do that. I don't know if I could have done it without Ray being here. It's good that we have a full-time person now. Fred D. Baldwin is a freelance writer based in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.