Eureka Times-Standard

Growing Relation Between Relationship Between HSU, Small Business Beneficial
By Gregg Foster

Sunday, October 2, 2005

On Friday, Humboldt State University, in partnership with the non-profit North Coast Small Business Resource Center, entered a competition to be named a “Lead Small Business Development Center (SBDC)” by the U.S. Small Business Administration. As previously reported in this paper, applying for this designation represents a bold move by these two organizations. If successful in their quest, Humboldt State and the Resource Center would be charged with managing a network of ten SBDCs over a 15 county region, stretching from Del Norte to Monterey County. These centers all provide direct technical assistance, training and education to small businesses in their territories. The SBDC program is one that enjoys bi-partisan support in Congress and many Centers’ programs receive direct financial support from the private sector.

This application is yet another step in the developing partnership between HSU and the Resource Center. This growing relationship provides a great benefit to students, who get real-life business issues to solve. It also helps educators, who have a strong community-based partner in the SBDC through which to link to small businesses. Finally, the SBDC benefits, because it can access on a wide variety of expertise to support its clients’ needs.

There are a number of examples of how this relationship has worked, too many to list here. One great example is the “Faculty Initiated SBDC Project.” This program links educators and students to small businesses to solve a real-world issue for the business. One of these projects involved the Industrial Technology (IT) Department and local goat cheese maker, Cypress Grove Chevre. Recently, Cypress Grove underwent a major expansion of its manufacturing plant, a move necessitated by the growing national demand for its products. One of its more popular products is Humboldt Fog. The manufacturing process for these products involves the use of ash. Cypress Grove needed assistance in designing a manufacturing process that controlled the ash as it was applied to the cheese. Working with the SBDC, Dr. Mark Doggett of the IT department was able to assign a group of students to the task. This team designed a solution that was able to control the ash and help streamline the manufacturing process.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the growing partnership between the College of the Redwoods and the Small Business Development Center. For over ten years, the College’s Eureka Computer Lab and the SBDC have been part of the Prosperity Center on E Street in Eureka. Recently, there have been a number of workshops that have resulted from collaboration between these two organizations. Most recently the SBDC and the College co-sponsored a “Global Marketing for the Arts” seminar for local art businesses. Over 80 local artists attended to learn how to develop the local art industry and make a better living from their art. This workshop was part of a broader effort to develop the business of art in Humboldt County that is being supported by the Headwaters Fund, SBDC and private contributions.

I’ve written in this space before about how essential a good education is to personal success. It bears repeating that the economic value of continued education is well documented. Census data shows that individuals with an associate's degree earn approximately 26 percent more than those with a high school diploma. Those with a bachelor's degree earn on average 72 percent more. Individuals with a professional degree earn more than three and a half times as much as an individual with a high school diploma.

It’s also important to stress the importance of our local educational institutions in developing the economy of Humboldt County beyond the important role of educating our youth. These institutions, even in these lean budget times, have tremendous assets to apply to increasing the prosperity of north coast residents.

Finally, I want to thank the staffs of Humboldt State University and the Small Business Development Center who have worked overtime to enter this competition. They truly show that small town does not necessarily mean small time. I look forward to their announcement that they have been chosen to lead this important program.

Gregg Foster is the Executive Director of the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission and a member of the Board of the North Coast Small Business Resource Center, the host non-profit organization for the SBDC.