JIT Delivery: Commonwealth Awards Valley CDC Small Business Technical Assistance Grant

February 24, 2009, Northampton, MA: Valley Community Development Corporation (Valley CDC) was awarded a $35,000 grant from the Massachusetts Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship to provide business technical assistance (TA) services to small, local businesses with fewer than 20 employees.  Valley CDC will provide training classes and individual business counseling through 2009.
 
"This grant program couldn't come at a better time, given the state of our economy," acknowledged Joanne Campbell, Executive Director of Valley CDC. "The challenges small business owner’s face every day have become more pronounced: finding new customers, keeping old ones, handling cash flow, and keeping current on the latest advances in their field. With the expanding unemployed workforce looking at ways to stay solvent, many are considering 'working for themselves'. Valley CDC is poised to help these entrepreneurs, as well as existing firms, evaluate their options, take a hard look at the numbers, and work with them to launch or grow successful companies that can succeed in the current economic climate."
 
This grant enables Valley CDC to provide critically needed support for small businesses to survive and even grow during the economic downturn. "Valley CDC is prepared to help newly unemployed people become entrepreneurs and determine if starting their own business is a viable option in these challenging times.  We help small business owners succeed in the face of growing marketing, operational and financial challenges," stated Gene Talsky, Director of the Small Business Program.
 
Stacy Kontrabecki, Small Business Coordinator noted, "We are interested in helping entrepreneurs position themselves to offer needed goods and services to the marketplace. Discretionary dollars are tightly held these days and households aren't spending as much on non-essential items."

Mr. Talsky added, "This Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA)  grant enables Valley CDC to expand its business assistance, now servicing low-moderate income micro-entrepreneurs (5 or fewer employees) in Northampton and Easthampton through Community Development Block Grants, to include larger companies in our  service area (Northampton, Easthampton, Amherst, Hadley) and those with up to 20 employees at all income levels."

Appointments for business counseling can be scheduled by contacting Gene R. Talsky, Director Small Business Development, 413 529-0420, grt@valleycdc.com.  Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:00am to 2:00pm. 

Workshop and seminar topics, schedules, and online enrollment will be available on Valley CDC's website at ValleyCDC.com/training.  Programs are slated to run in the late summer and autumn of 2009. Visit Valley CDC's website to be added to the Business Training E-newsletter to receive notice of these classes when they are scheduled.  Contact Stacy Kontrabecki at sk@valleycdc.com or 413-529-0420, for more Information about classes and workshops.

 Valley CDC is a community-based non-profit organization that provides affordable rental housing, first time homebuyer programs, down payment assistance programs, credit education and training programs, foreclosure prevention and foreclosure counseling, and business development services to the communities of Northampton, Easthampton, Hadley and Amherst. 

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