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The circumstances aren’t exactly ideal, but awareness of and registration with the Yavapai College Small Business Development Center has increased sharply amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 “The secret is out,” said SBDC Director Jeri Denniston, referring to the influx of small businesses taking advantage of the advocacy organization’s resources and expertise to survive and even thrive through corona virus challenges. The SBDC is on pace in 2020 to double the number of small businesses accessing free financial, marketing and expansion advice, Denniston said. 

“This disaster has pulled all of our partners together and they are spreading the word,” Denniston said, citing countywide chambers of commerce, local government and workforce and economic development organizations that have been meeting regularly to exchange information and share resources.  

“We’re very, very busy, but we still want the business community to know we’re available. We’re here at no cost to them. The more we can help more businesses, the better it is as a whole for the community.” 

Noting that SBDCs exist in part to foster success among underserved small business categories, Denniston said the number of minority-owned businesses accessing SBDC services also is on the rise. She attributed the heightened access to concerted outreach efforts and the arrival in late April of Spanish-speaking SBDC Business Analyst Marie Platowski-Beals. 

Denniston and Platowski-Beals recounted the story of a Hispanic landscaping business owner on the brink of losing his livelihood this summer before he found his way to the SBDC. Platowski-Beals, who started and ran businesses in the Chicago area for more than 20 years, helped the businessman receive a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan first by convincing him to suspend operations to meet an application deadline and then by connecting him to a bilingual lender. The funds kept the business afloat, his family secure and even prevented the man’s son from scrapping his first-generation college journey. 

 The experience was particularly gratifying, Platowski-Beals said, and not unlike many others she has notched with businesses fighting to survive in 2020. “You start by finding out what they need and how you can help them. You really get to know them on a personal level. When you’re successful at getting them what they need and that saves their business, you feel so great about it. Without the help, it would have been catastrophic.” 

Along with a Spanish-speaking analyst, the SBDC soon will be even better equipped to work with Hispanic business owners by offering online registration and other helpful documents in Spanish. Additionally, Lisa Raygoza, YC’s liaison to the Hispanic community, is helping direct more of the 200-plus Hispanic-owned businesses in Yavapai County to the SBDC and its free resources.  

All small businesses are encouraged to seek assistance when needed from the SBDC by visiting the website, www.yc.edu/sbdc, or by calling 717-7232. Businesses can request help in Spanish from the SBDC by calling 717-7232 and leaving a message.