Farmingdale Small Business Development Center Receives Grant

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has helped 24,605 businesses, has invested $282 million in the economy and has saved almost 12,000 jobs, according to the Center's records. With the recent news of a one-time $3 million grant coming from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the center will be able to do even more for the local economy.

The grant will go towards funding 11 additional SBA advisors on Long Island and New York City. Farmingdale State College has one of the two SBDCs on Long Island, the other being at Stony Brook University.

This grant comes from a provision in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, signed by President Barack Obama in September. The act provided $50 million in grants to SBDCs nationwide. 

"The SBDC at Farmingdale will receive additional funds to support an advisor to assist small business owners who will be relocated as a result of the Wyandanch Rising Project," said Farmingdale State SBDC Director Lucille Wesnofske. "The Wyandanch Rising Project is an on-going effort to improve the living conditions and profitability of Wyandanch."

The Farmingdale center uniquely houses a procurement specialist, an international trade advisor and an energy sustainability advisor.

"[Our goal is to] help entrepreneurs, businesses and industry become more productive and profitable," Wesnofske said.

The eight advisors at the site offer free business counseling to help set up or manage an existing small business and have been doing so since 1985.  They offer services in the following areas:

• Business Plan Development
• Small Business Start-Ups
• Organizational Structures
• Financial Planning
• Export Assistance
• Personnel and Ownership Succession
• Cost Analysis
• Loan Information Assistance
• Marketing
• Strategic Planning
• Training Programs

"What we do is help prepare a business plan, discuss different forms of businesses, and advise them on different strategies to help make their business profitable. We also draft a review plan, which will lay out projections of expenses. It's work in stages," said Advisor Tony Presti, the energy sustainability specialist. Presti has been the project coordinator for SBDC Energy Sustainability Grant Program since 2009.

They also have a Veteran Business Outreach Center, which is one of few in New York State.  

"We are very devoted to our work.  We'll do whatever we can to help people in Nassau and Suffolk in having the business they dream of," Wesnofske said, who has over 21 years experience in small business consulting and has been the director of the Farmingdale SBDC since 2001. Wesnofske also sat in on a

In March, the SBDC will be having a Six-Part Quickbooks Workshop, and will be partnering with SUNY Old Westburry to offer procurement counseling.  They will also be holding a "Six Weeks of Excellence" program in mid-March.