Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tarleton State University has closed its Small Business Development Center that had been headquartered at the Langdon Center for about the past eight years.
However, Hood County businesses will continue to be served through free assistance, officials affiliated with the center said Wednesday.
Cecilia Jacobs, assistant vice president with the Department of Marketing & Communications, explained that the closure is due to a 35 percent reduction in state funding two years ago and a reorganization of SBDC regional offices.
The Granbury-based center was able to continue at the Langdon Center for a time after the funding reduction thanks to other funding sources, she said.
Randy Burch, who operated the Langdon Center office and worked for Tarleton, is now based in Lubbock and working for Texas Tech University, which is the contract holder for the Small Business Administration’s nationwide program.
Texas has four regions under the Small Business Development Center program, Burch said, and Texas Tech’s regional office services 95 counties.
Tarleton is part of the Lubbock region, and Tarleton is one of Texas Tech’s subcontractors, he said.
Small Business Development Centers help create and grow small businesses, helping “in all aspects of technical assistance,” Burch said.
Staffers provide free assistance in creating business plans and helping entrepreneurs get “bank ready,” he stated.
The centers also help existing businesses expand and provide trainings related to QuickBooks and various specialty services, Burch said.
Burch stated that he moved to Lubbock and closed the Langdon Center office on Feb. 1.
Jacobs and Burch said that an SBDC office will be opened on the Tarleton campus, in the College of Business.
Burch said that the Granbury phone number – 817-573-7681 – is still in service, and will be for probably a year. Calls are being transferred to the Brownwood office while the new headquarters is being set up at Tarleton.
Jacobs said that the campus-based SBDC will be under the direction of Amy Wright, who is currently at the Brownwood office.
The campus-based office will provide services for Hood, Erath, Somervell, Mills, Brown, Comanche and Hamilton counties, she said.
kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258
