The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

March 15, 2013

U.S. SBA gives regional honor to center at Minnesota State

The Free Press

— The Small Business Development Center, headquartered at Minnesota State University, has been named the Minnesota and Upper Midwest Region SBDC Center of Excellence of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The award is given annually to honor a Small Business Development Center for excellence in providing value to small businesses and advancing program delivery and management through innovation.

 Todd Loosbrock, president of U.S. Bank in Mankato, nominated The Small Business Development Center, South Central Region, for the award.

Mike Nolan is director of the Mankato program and Julie Nelson is program coordinator.

The regional award winner is selected from among the state winners. In addition to Minnesota, SBA’s Upper Midwest Region includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Mankato SBDC has increased its accomplishments significantly in the last three years, the last two of which it has been located at Minnesota State University. According to the U.S. Small Business Association, the “rebuilt” SBDC at Minnesota State enjoys a stellar reputation in the Minnesota SBDC Network.

The U.S. SBA described the SBDC in Mankato as “a team that overcame funding and operational challenges.”

The national group said the Mankato office regained the trust and respect of its banking community and partners, added staff professionals, smoothly integrated with a new host institution, secured significant grant funding and consistently exceed the center’s established goals.

The SBDC will be honored at the Minnesota Small Business Week Awards program May 6 in Minneapolis.

For more information on the Small Business Development Center, call 507-389-8875 or email michael.nolan@mnsu.edu and julie.nelson@mnsu.edu.

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