UWEC Small Business Center Grabs Statewide Honor

Tom Giffey |

UW-Eau Claire’s Small Business Development Center apparently has developed a reputation for taking care of business … and of businesses. Now, the center is the winner of the 2013 Small Business Development Center Service Excellence Award for Wisconsin. The award was granted by the Wisconsin District office of the U.S. Small Business Administration and will be received by SBDC Director Jim Mishefske at a May 31 ceremony in Milwaukee. The SBDC, 210 Water St., provides free business counseling and advice to entrepreneurs in a seven-county area, offering services ranging from guiding start-ups to helping with expansions and exit strategies. The award recognizes the center for creating a “stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem” in west-central Wisconsin by partnering with economic development groups and providing access to UWEC resources. “Jim’s efforts to reach out to the areas surrounding Eau Claire have brought the SBDC’s services to a broader constituency and to more small businesses in the region,” said Eric Ness, Wisconsin District director for the SBA.  The SBDC and other centers like it at four-year university campuses throughout Wisconsin are hosted by the University of Wisconsin Extension and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration.