POSTED: Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010

Western Washington University opens SBDC office

Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics has opened the Small Business Development Center at 115 Unity St., Suite 101, in downtown Bellingham.

It will be a service for local businesses in conjunction with the CBE's existing Center for Economic Vitality.

Jennifer Shelton has been hired as the director of the new SBDC. She comes to Bellingham from the Edmonds Community College SBDC, and has worked in the field of business development and research for 17 years, including a stint at the CEV.

The SBDC is part of a national network that is partially funded regionally by Washington State University and the U.S. Small Business Administration as well as WWU.

Shelton's goal is to provide much needed business-advising services - many of which are at no cost to the client - to local entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their businesses, increase profitability, and create jobs.

"I'm here to serve the needs of the business community, and assist with what is already happening with the business advisors at the CEV," she said in a press release.

Shelton provides a wide range of no-cost services to local business owners, including: Various types of financial and marketing analysis; human resource needs; business plan reviews; loan proposal development and reviews

Besides her experience as a certified business advisor for a number of SBDCs, Shelton has worked at companies such as Microsoft and Starbucks as well as running her own small business.

For more information on the services the new SBDC can provide, contact Shelton at (360) 778-1762 or Jennifer.shelton@wwu.edu.