UW-Whitewater business centers honored for outreach work

June 08, 2011

Business outreach centers at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater are winning recognition for successful efforts to help companies keep themselves strong and grow even during a tough economy.

"Things are going well. We are extremely busy, and the busy part is a good thing because it indicates that things are improving in the business sector," said Ronald "Bud" Gayhart, director of the Center for Business Innovation and Development at UW-Whitewater.

The center is the umbrella group for two business outreach centers: the Small Business Development Center and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center.

Two recent grants totaling more than $350,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration and a statewide award for excellence attest to the quality of the vital services provided by the centers.

One grant, for $216,515, supports continued services of the Small Business Development Center, which focuses on Rock, Walworth, Waukesha, Jefferson and Dodge counties, and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center, which conducts market assessments for companies anywhere.

The other grant, for $150,000, focuses on helping regional businesses stabilize and grow by diversifying their operations "so they are at less risk when it comes to economic downturns,'' Gayhart said

A manufacturing company, for example, may be doing very well with one or two major customers, he said, with company owners working hard to meet those customers' needs and possibly turning down other, smaller customers.

That narrow focus puts the manufacturer in a risky position if the big customer suddenly cuts back, "a painful lesson to learn for any business," Gayhart said.

He and his staff perform a customer diversification assessment, trying to help the client identify potential new customers. "What we hope to develop is a snapshot of where the bubbling sectors are," Gayhart said.

Another important regional service provides an independent feasibility assessment for lenders when a business is seeking a loan. The center evaluates the business plan, identifies trends and competitors, and reviews pricing structure and strategy, creating "a snapshot of the market from our perspective,'' he said.

About 20 UW-Whitewater students work for the business outreach centers, receiving "a learning opportunity they don't get out of a textbook," Gayhart said. "This is real-life stuff."

In recognition of the valuable work of the Small Business Development Center, Gayhart and his team were honored June 3 in Milwaukee with the Service Excellence Award from the district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Small Business Development Center marked its 30th year of operation last year and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center has conducted more than 9,000 market research studies for companies around the world.

That experience keeps Gayhart in touch with business people in diverse markets and places UW-Whitewater in a unique position to help entrepreneurs, start-up companies and small businesses.

"We know that we have a lot of tools in our tool kit that we can leverage for business in our region and across the state of Wisconsin," Gayhart said. "This resource resides at the university and we can provide them with lots of assistance."

For more information, contact Gayhart at 262-472-3217 or gayhartr@uww.edu or see http://sbdc.uww.edu.