A nonprofit that offers free consulting to small businesses in Marin has launched this year at Dominican University of California in San Rafael as part of a partnership that gives business students access to work with local entrepreneurs and organizations.
Dominican’s Barowsky School of Business is now hosting the Marin Small Business Development Center, or SBDC, a nonprofit that aims to guide small business growth in the county. The Marin SBDC, which will operate on the San Rafael campus, is one of 12 in Northern California that are partially funded by the Small Business Administration.
Since forming in 2013, the Marin SBDC has helped launch 130 businesses, serving more than 745 clients, and has helped create or retain more than 700 local jobs.
“This gives us an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with our local businesses and community organizations in Marin,” said Sam Beldona, dean of the business school. “It strengthens the students learning not from a textbook or a PowerPoint presentation, but from actually bringing real life projects into the classroom.”
For example, participating MBA students kick off each semester with a boot camp in which they form teams and compete against each other to develop marketing and business strategies. This year the business development center arranged for the students to work in teams on projects that local businesses have been developing. The three-day boot camp took place last week.
“Business owners brought their real problems to the table that the students worked on,” said Miriam Hope Karell, director of Marin SBDC. “Then they could walk away and decide if they want to implement some of it.”
Participating in the boot camp proved to be beneficial for Ginny Kuhel, owner of KuhelBreez HR Consulting, she said. The student team working on a rebranding and marketing strategy for her company won the competition.
“People are my passion,” said Kuhel. She said her firm offers human resources consulting to small businesses, specifically in the trade and service industries, such as landscaping, roofing, restaurants and retailers.
“Working with the students was wonderful,” she said. “They were able to pick out that what I need is to put together a marketing package. They put together a design and a logo for a business card. They captured me and my personality.”
Kuhel said she will continue working with the students and SBDC to further develop a brand and marketing strategy. Part of what helped was that students with human resource experience were part of the team working on her project, which was a smart pairing, she said.
One of those students was Will Poligono, a 34-year-old Greenbrae resident who received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a double minor in communications and education from University of California at Davis.
After graduating in 2007, Poligono ended up working in the human resources field and has begun the MBA program with hopes of becoming an HR strategist.
“It’s nice to have a win going into the school year,” he said. “This is the first time where I’ve had professional consulting experience, where I’ve actually worked with a business.”
Poligono is also going to intern for the Marin SBDC this school year and is looking to apply for a second.
“I want to work for a company that cares about their employees,” he said.
Throughout the school year, the Marin SBDC will organize guest speakers and other workshops for classes and could help students find internships.
For businesses, the center offers the opportunity to work with students on case studies and research projects. The SBDC also has a team of advisers for consultation on business development including e-commerce, angel investing, loans, financial strategies, marketing, social media, human resources and management.
The Marin SBDC receives about $120,000 annually from the Small Business Administration.
