SBDC moves to Cathlamet

The Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC), currently located at Lower Columbia College in Longview, is opening a satellite office in Cathlamet, beginning June 17, with help from the Lower Columbia EDC and donated space provided by the Wahkiakum Community Foundation.

The SBDC will be open the third Tuesday of every month from 9 a.m. til noon, beginning June 17 at 102 Main Street. Hours will be expanded as needed.

Susan Hoosier, a Certified Business Advisor with the Washington SBDC Network will be providing consulting services to any business located in Wahkiakum County. In addition, she will work with individuals who are interested in starting new businesses.

The SBDC offers confidential, no cost services that include but are not limited to sources of financing, preparation of business plans and financial projections, analyzing business performance, evaluation of business acquisitions, personnel management assistance, marketing and sales assistance, preparation of loan proposals and exporting assistance.

The center is one of three such offices in the state that the Legislature approved in 2007 as part of Gov. Chris Gregoire's jobs plan. All are funded in part by Washington State University and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Hoosier has spent the past eight years in the small business development industry. She is a Certified Business Advisor in the Washington SBDC Network, certified by the National Development Council as an Economic Development Finance Professional and formerly managed a $3.8 million loan fund for a regional development commission in northwestern Minnesota. She moved to southwest Washington from Bemidji, Minn. where she was the regional director of the Northwest Minnesota Regional Small Business Development Center.

Appointments for the new SBDC are recommended and can be made by calling 442-2946 or by emailing shoosier@wsu.edu. For more information, visit http://www.wsbdc.org.