Economic Impact
The Alabama SBDC brings jobs to Alabama’s people, stability to our communities, and innovation to our economy.
The Alabama SBDC helps create opportunities for small businesses by providing them with expert advice, training, and resources that level the playing field with larger competitors. We create possibilities for prosperity for the state’s most important economic engine by helping entrepreneurs and small business owners SURVIVE difficult times and THRIVE in a growing economy. Since 2019, Alabama SBDCs provided 65,282 hours of consulting to 13,456 client businesses, and hosted 880 training events for 24,804 attendees, creating a significant positive impact on Alabama’s economy.
Impact Snapshot
The Alabama SBDC releases an Economic Impact Snapshot annually. This summary report includes economic impact data such as jobs created, new business starts, capital infusion, government contracts, advising hours, total number of companies served, and total number of training events + attendees. The report includes ROI data that shows how many additional tax dollars are generated for the state and federal government for every dollar invested in the SBDC program.
Ensuring Adequate Coverage
2023 Client Demographics
The Alabama SBDC carefully monitors and manages the demographic and geographic diversity of its clients; the chart above shows the clients we served last year. Each quarter, the SBDC analyzes its client database to ensure that every constituent in Alabama is able to access to expert business advisors and research at the SBDC. Our goal is to ensure that minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned businesses are well-represented. The SBDC conducts a county-by-county analysis of clients, to ensure that both our rural and metro areas are receiving an appropriate level of assistance. The SBDC is intentional with its efforts to target and engage under-represented and under-served entrepreneurs and small business owners. The chart below shows who attended our targeted training events.
2023 Training Attendee Demographics
SBDC Clients Have Greater Sales, Add More Jobs Than Average Small Business
Learn more about the nationwide impact of America’s SBDC in our 2024 Annual Report:
