SBDC held our 40th Anniversary Celebration in the Great Hall at UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics on May 30, 2024. We were honored by the enthusiasm of the guests, clients, partners, and speakers.
The celebration was emceed by Fred Kocher and the program included Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Senator Maggie Hassan, Congressman Chris Pappas, University of New Hampshire President James W. Dean, and Amy Bassett, U.S. Small Business Administration NH District Director.
SBDC’s State Director Liz Gray spoke about how the SBDC Teams of the past and present have dedicated themselves to helping small businesses, and that when businesses were struggling through the pandemic and recovery period, our team was there answering calls and emails long after hours. The SBDC Team not only survived, but thrived during the pandemic, showing their passion and dedication, grit and determination in that distinctly New Hampshire way. Our Team now serves twice as many clients as before the pandemic.
Sue McCoo, an SBDC client for 39 years, spoke at the anniversary celebration about the key role that her SBDC advisors played in helping her with four businesses over the past four decades. She represented the broad spectrum of small businesses from around the state that were in the event’s Client Showcase, who have worked with SBDC from 1-12 years: Desserts by Sarah (Sarah Wright), Fortin Gage (Amber Morgan), Granite House of Help LLC (Crispin Milele), Hilltop Consignment Gallery (Sue McCoo), Nearview (Stefan Claesson), Outdoor New England (Marty Parichand), Radmoto USA (Chas Sullivan), Sweeties Cupcakes (Jackie Kempf), and The White Apron, (Jay & Liz Curcio).
For four decades, SBDC has provided business advising and education programs to all businesses that have come through our doors with 1-500 employees, from any location in the state and from many industries and all communities. We have proudly offered guidance and education to all of the Granite State’s business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.
We are tremendously proud of NH SBDC’s accomplishments and contributions to growing the State’s economy, and recognize that our 40 years of success would not be possible without the support of our key partners: the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. In addition, we are fortunate to have an actively engaged volunteer Advisory Board, strong private sector and economic development service provider partnerships, and collaborations with UNH faculty and centers.
We are committed to providing exemplary service to help entrepreneurs realize the dream of business ownership and to assisting existing businesses to remain competitive in an ever-changing global economy. Over the past 40 years, SBDC teams advised or trained 118,000 entrepreneurs, and helped them start more than 2,340 businesses. They took 21,300 SBDC eCourses, had $121.7 million in client sales growth, raised over $570 million in capital infusion, and helped create or save 17,675 jobs. In addition, NH SBDC had a total annual economic impact on the State of New Hampshire of $242 MM in 2023.
We look forward to the next phase of serving the businesses and economic development ecosystem of New Hampshire.
Enjoy the photos from the 40th Anniversary Celebration!
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Thank you to our 40th Anniversary Sponsors!
