Western North Carolina Economic Development Group

Biz Boost

Small and Mid-Size Business Development

Small and mid-size businesses are the engines of North Carolina’s economy and the drivers of our region’s growth and success. These firms have accounted for the majority of net new jobs over the past 10 years. But they have also been severely impacted by the economic downturn. Sales are flat or declining, operating costs have been slashed, and in many instances workers have had to be let go. To revive our regional economy, stem the rise in unemployment, and start growing jobs again, AdvantageWest is participating in an innovative strategy of Governor Beverly Purdue’s, Biz Boost.

Biz Boost

Biz Boost aims to help businesses retain jobs and accelerate their prospects for future growth. AdvantageWest is working with the University of North Carolina System’s Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC) to connect vulnerable firms with proven and effective business assistance. AdvantageWest is responsible for helping to develop and implement a strategy for reaching out to affected small and mid-size businesses throughout western North Carolina. The SBTDC and its team of experienced management advisors and business specialists will provide in-depth personalized counseling to help businesses:

• better manage finances,
• find new customers,
• restructure debt, and
• position for growth.

As a first point of order, the SBTDC will quickly and objectively assess the current financial and operational situations of the participating business and look for improvements that can have an immediate impact. Following that, the SBTDC will help the business work through their specific issues whether in marketing, accessing capital, employee and management performance, or strategy. The SBTDC’s assessments and one-on-one business counseling are available at no cost to participating businesses.

Since 1984, the SBTDC has helped businesses grow jobs and revenues – more than 3 times the average for North Carolina firms. Strong businesses are the key to job creation, increased revenue, and regional economic success. Independent surveys have shown over the past 25 years that SBTDC clients outperform their peers, even during recessions.

Biz Boost is funded from a reallocation of existing federal workforce development funds. In a time when businesses are struggling, worker training programs will only go so far in helping people find jobs or in curtailing unemployment. Instead, Governor Purdue and the NC Commission on Workforce Development initiated Biz Boost as a strategy to help keep people employed and encourage businesses to grow. This strategy is unique to North Carolina because of its proactive approach to workforce development – using some of the State’s federal allotment on job retention in addition the traditional strategy of worker training and retraining. To learn more about Biz Boost and register to start receiving help for your business, visit the www.sbtdc.org/bizboost.

Click here to download a Biz Boost Brochure (pdf)

Click here to read a report on Biz Boost business counseling activity and client impacts for 2010.

In an effort to respond to the diverse economic development needs of North Carolina, then State Representative Martin Nesbitt introduced legislation creating the regional economic development partnerships. It was this extraordinary insight that allowed AdvantageWest to become one of the most innovative and nimble economic development programs in the state.

Kathi Petersen , Senior VP, Corporate & Public Relations
AdvantageWest
134 Wright Brothers Way
Fletcher, NC 28732