SBA resource guide: Resource partners
The Small Business Administration works with a variety of local resource partners to meet your small business needs: SCORE chapters, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Women's Business Centers (WBCs). To find your local district office or SBA resource partner, visit www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance.
SCORE
For more on SCORE, visit www.sba.gov/score or call 800-634-0245 for the SCORE office nearest you. Additional information can be found at www.SCORE.org.
SCORE is a national network of more than 11,000 entrepreneurs, business leaders and executives who volunteer as mentors to America's small businesses. SCORE volunteers donated more than 1.1 million hours providing services to small business clients. SCORE leverages decades of experience from seasoned business professionals to help entrepreneurs to start and grow companies and to create jobs in local communities. SCORE does this by harnessing the passion and knowledge of individuals who have owned and managed their own businesses and want to share this “real world” expertise with you.
Found in more than 350 chapters and 800 locations throughout the country, SCORE provides key services — both face-to-face and online — to busy entrepreneurs who are just getting started or are in need of a seasoned business professional as a sounding board for their existing business. As members of your community, SCORE mentors understand local business licensing rules, economic conditions and important business networks. SCORE can help you by:
• Matching your specific needs with a business mentor
• Traveling to your place of business for an on-site evaluation
• Teaming with several SCORE mentors to provide you with tailored assistance in a number of business areas
Small Business Development Centers
For information on the SBDC program, visit www.sba.gov/sbdc. The Portland office can be reached at 207-780-4420, mainesbdc@usm.maine.edu or www.mainesbdc.org.
The mission of SBA's Small Business Development Centers is to build, sustain and grow small businesses. It's also to promote small business development and enhance local economies by creating businesses and fulfilling its mission of creating jobs.
In addition to its core services, the SBDCs offer special focus areas such as green business technology, disaster recovery and preparedness, export assistance, international trade assistance, veteran's assistance, technology transfer and regulatory compliance.
The program combines a unique combination of federal, state and private sector resources to provide, in every state and territory, the foundation for the economic growth of small businesses.
• Maine SBDC hosted by CEI at FAME
5 Community Dr./P.O. Box 949 Augusta, ME 04332-0949
207-620-3521
• Maine SBDC hosted by CEI at MCCOG Midcoast West
759 High St., 3rd Fl. Bath, ME 04530-2828
207-443-5790 ext. 18
• SBDC Service Center at CEI — Bangor
One Cumberland Place, Ste. 302 Bangor, ME 04401
207-942-1744
• Maine SBDC at Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) — Caribou
11 W. Presque Isle Rd./P.O. Box 779 Caribou, ME 04736-0779
207-498-8736 or 800-427-8736
• Maine SBDC at CEI — Ellsworth
210 Main St., Ste. 7 Ellsworth, ME 04605-1950
207-664-2990
• Maine SBDC hosted by CEI at KVCOG — Fairfield
17 Main St. Fairfield, ME 04937-1119
207-453-4258 ext. 215
• SBDC at Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments (AVCOG) — Lewiston/Auburn
125 Manley Rd. Auburn, ME 04210-3600
207-783-9186
• Maine SBDC at CEI — Machias Sunrise County Economic Council
53 Prescott Dr. Machias, ME 04654-0679
888-269-0566
• Maine SBDC at University of Southern Maine (USM) — Portland
P.O. Box 9300 Portland, ME 04104-9300
Location: 501 Forest Ave., Portland
207-780-4949
• Maine SBDC hosted by University of So. Maine at SMRPC — Sanford/Springvale
21 Bradeen St., Ste. 304 Springvale, ME 04083-1925
207-324-0316
• Maine SBDC at CEI — Midcoast East
36 Water St./P.O. Box 268 Wiscasset, ME 04578-0268
207-882-4340
Women's Business Centers
For more information, visit www.sba.gov/wosb or www.sba.gov/women.
The SBA's Women Business Center (WBC) program is a network of over 100 community-based centers that provide business training, counseling, coaching, mentoring and other assistance geared toward women, particularly those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.
To meet the needs of women entrepreneurs, WBCs offer services at convenient times and locations, including evenings and weekends. WBCs are located within non-profit host organizations that offer a wide variety of services in addition to the services provided by the WBC. Many of the WBCs also offer training and counseling and provide materials in different languages in order to meet the diverse needs of the communities they serve.
WBCs often deliver their services through long-term training or group counseling, both of which have shown to be effective. WBC training courses are often free or are offered for a small fee. Some centers will also offer scholarships based on the client's needs.
While most WBCs are physically located in one designated location, a number of WBCs also provide courses and counseling via the Internet, mobile classrooms and satellite locations. WBCs have a track record of success. In fiscal year 2013, the WBC program counseled and trained nearly 134,000 clients, creating local economic growth and vitality. In addition, WBCs helped entrepreneurs access more than $25 million in capital.
In addition, the WBC program has taken a lead in preparing women business owners to apply for the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract program that authorizes contracting officers to set aside certain federal contracts for eligible women-owned small businesses or economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses.
• Southern Maine Business Counselor
2 Portland Fish Pier, Ste. 206 Portland, ME 04101
207-772-5356
sguerette@ceimaine.org
• Rim Counties Business Counselor
Betty Gensel
165 Front St./P.O Box 963 Farmington, ME 04938
207-778-6529
bjg@ceimaine.org
• Downeast/Virtual Business Counselor
Ruth Cash-Smith 53 Prescott Dr., Ste. 3/P.O. Box 679 Machias, ME 04654
207-255-0983
rcs@ceimaine.org
Resources for underserved communities
The SBA also offers a number of programs specifically designed to meet the needs of the underserved communities.
Women business owners: Women entrepreneurs are changing the face of America's economy. In the 1970s, women owned less than 5% of the nation's businesses.
Today, they are majority owners of about a third of the nation's small businesses and are at least equal owners of about half of all small businesses. SBA serves women entrepreneurs nationwide through its various programs and services, some of which are designed especially for women.
The SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO) serves as an advocate for women-owned businesses. The office oversees a nationwide network over 100 Women's Business Centers that provide business training, counseling and mentoring geared specifically to women, especially those who are socially and economically disadvantaged. The program is a public-private partnership with locally-based nonprofits.
Women's Business Centers serve a wide variety of geographic areas, population densities, and economic environments, including urban, suburban, and rural. Local economies vary from depressed to thriving, and range from metropolitan areas to entire states. Each Women's Business Center tailors its services to the needs of its individual community, but all offer a variety of innovative programs, often including courses in different languages. They provide training in finance, management, and marketing, as well as access to all of the SBA's financial and procurement assistance programs.
Veteran business owners: For more information, visit www.sba.gov/veterans.
The Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD), has taken strides in expanding assistance to veteran, service-disabled veteran small business owners and reservists by ensuring they have access to SBA's full-range of business/technical assistance programs and services, and that they receive special consideration for SBA's entrepreneurial programs and resources.
Operation Boots to Business: For more information, visit www.sba.gov/bootstobusiness.
The aptly named Operation Boots to Business program builds on SBA's role as a national leader in entrepreneurship training. The program's mission is to develop veteran entrepreneurs from the approximately 250,000 service members who transition from the military each year.
Native American Business Development: For more information, visit www.sba.gov/naa.
The SBA Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) ensures that American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians seeking to create, develop and expand small businesses have full access to business development and expansion tools available through the agency's entrepreneurial development, lending and contracting programs.
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