PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 19, 2006 – Looking for a job? Pennsylvania has them, thanks to businesses benefiting from Small Business Development Center assistance.

In the most recent year studied, small firms helped by the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) created 8,537 new jobs. That’s a new job every 1 hour and 1 minute from just $1,131 per job of taxpayer money invested in the program. The study was conducted independently by Dr. James J. Chrisman of Mississippi State University.

“Numbers like these prove that the SBDCs make a significant impact on Pennsylvania’s economic position,” Gregory L. Higgins, Jr., state director of the Pennsylvania SBDC program, noted. “Small firms are engines of job growth, and it’s essential that Pennsylvania continues to invest in resources and programs which support the small business sector.”

The Small Business Development Centers offer an array of services which help growing companies create and maintain jobs in Pennsylvania. Growth issues from financing and personnel issues to new market opportunities and strategic planning are covered in educational programs and in no-fee, confidential one-on-one consulting sessions offered statewide.

About the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers
As the largest statewide provider of entrepreneurial services, the SBDCs play a unique and vital role in the Commonwealth's economic development initiatives as the only organization that, in utilizing the expertise and resources of 16 of the best colleges and universities in the state, assists entrepreneurs in all stages of business and all industry sectors. Funding support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the SBDC host institutions enables consulting services to be provided at no charge to the client.

Since 1990 alone, the SBDCs have helped Pennsylvania entrepreneurs start thousands of new businesses, create thousands of jobs, sell millions of dollars of products and services, and generate millions in new tax revenues. For more information on the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers' services and impact, visit www.pasbdc.org.

CONTACT

Megan Schmidgal
(215) 898-1219
megands@wharton.upenn.edu