CEV holds open office hours to help businesses thrive

The Center for Economic Vitality, formerly known as the Small Business Development Center, is a community outreach program of Western Washington University's College of Business and Economics. The center provides free services to local businesses to help them achieve success.

The center has been around for about 25 years, and its name was changed five years ago to better reflect the intended goal of the programs were, Center Director Tom Dorr said.

“This is about helping (entrepreneurs) actualize their dreams,” Dorr said.

The center provides three basic services to its clients. One of these is confidential business advice on how to make their businesses successful. Usually, it's for solving general business problems, such as generating more revenue. The center employs five counselors for this task.

The advice is always confidential.

“It’s a value we have,” Dorr said. “If our clients are reserved we can’t help them.”

In the past five years, the center has helped more than 4,000 clients.

The center also provides a business research program that uses the college’s resources and experience to provide small businesses with access to information. The CEV works with businesses to determine who their customers are and how to reach them effectively.

The center has been recognized as a leader in providing this service, Dorr said.

“This is something Fortune 500 companies do,” Dorr said.

Thirdly, the center helps organizations solve specific business problems. For example, the center was brought in to help the Washington State Parks Department collect data on parkgoers to see how the department could better serve them.

But since the recession took hold, most of the center’s work with clients has been focused on increasing jobs and preventing layoffs. About half of the center’s clients are interested in increasing their businesses during the recession, Dorr said.

The center recently worked with Hardware Sales, a local hardware store, to establish the store’s online presence. This created about 12 jobs for the company.

Such success stories lead to referrals for the CEV, which accounts for roughly half of all new clients. Another 40 percent are from professional referrals to the center. The last 10 percent are walk-ins, Dorr said.

The center has lost a third of its funding since the recession hit and thus has refocused its resources. The center is partially funded by in-kind contributions from Western in terms of labor and access to business journals.

The center also receives money from the cities of Bellingham, Ferndale, Sumas, Lynden and Blaine. The Port of Bellingham also sends money to the center, as well as the Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Administration.

“Each of these pots of money (is) focused on targeted audiences,” Dorr said. “(For example,) EDA money is focused on tribal communities.”

The center is now holding open office hours at the Woods Coffee in Bellingham, Ferndale and, Lynden on the first Thursday of month, said Meg Greenfield, assistant director of operations. The hours are 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Photo by Christopher Wood | University Communications intern