TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose This paper assesses the efficacy of the 18 small business development centers (SBDCs) located throughout the state of Pennsylvania during 2013–2016 as a proxy for publicly funded, small business consulting services in general.Design/methodology/approach The paper compares the sales growth of SBDC clients, as reported in postconsultation surveys, to comparable growth measures for the corresponding business population using one- and two-sample t-tests.Findings The results show that respondent clients with existing businesses clearly outperform the broader population following consultation, both in aggregate and when decomposed by region and industry.Research limitations/implications Although the best available data, the results are tempered by low response rates and self-reporting.Originality/value The paper empirically demonstrates that SBDC clients experience higher growth in sales and employment following their consultation than the broader business population. The net benefit of such services is, however, impossible to determine.
VL  - 9
IS  - 3
SN  - 2045-2101
DO  - 10.1108/JEPP-12-2019-0095
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-12-2019-0095
AU  - Roth M. Garrett
AU  - Morris Ryan
PY  - 2020
Y1  - 2020/01/01
TI  - Here I come to save the day? Reassessing the efficacy of small business development centers in the Internet Era
T2  - Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 319
EP  - 328
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -