Regional SBDC directors to visit 6 communities March 15

ALEXANDRIA — Directors of the West Central Minnesota Small Business Development Center, or SBDC, will be embarking on a road tour in honor of national SBDC Day on March 15, stopping in several communities around the region to hold friendly meet-and-greets with stakeholders, small business owners and other supporters.

Regional SBDC Director Ian Carlstrom and Associate SBDC Director Amy Anderson will be touring in style, driving an SBDC mobile unit that Minnesota’s nine regional SBDC offices share. The directors will be making 45-minute visits at venues in Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, Perham, Alexandria, Fergus Falls and Barnesville.

The tour is intended to raise awareness of the SBDC’s beneficial impact on the region, as well as to help spread the word of the regional SBDC office’s new host site, M State, and introduce Carlstrom and Anderson in their new roles with the organization.

“We’re excited to get out into our local communities to meet with our SBDC partners, share success stories, and continue to build relationships throughout our service area,” Carlstrom said in a press release. “SBDC Day is a national, collective proclamation of the impact that SBDCs have on the lives of entrepreneurs and other dreamers and innovators.”

“This is an opportunity to reconnect with entrepreneurs and other key stakeholders throughout our region and in our new roles with our new host, M State,” Anderson said in a press release. “We’re making stops in six key communities across the region, and we hope that everyone who can make it will stop by and see us.”

The Wednesday, March 15 road tour schedule is as follows:

• 8 a.m. – Moorhead (M State campus, 1900 28th Ave. S.)
• 9:45 a.m. – Detroit Lakes (M State campus, 900 Highway 34 East)
• 11 a.m. – Perham (Perham Area Chamber of Commerce, 185 E. Main)
• 1 p.m. – Alexandria (Alexandria Area Economic Development Commission, 324 Broadway St. #101)
• 2:45 p.m. – Fergus Falls (The Foundry, 101 W. Lincoln Ave.)
• 4:15 p.m. – Barnesville (Barnesville Economic Development Authority, 202 Front St. N.)

Previously hosted by Concordia College, the West Central Minnesota SBDC opened its new headquarters at M State’s Moorhead campus at the beginning of January, in room B163. Satellite offices are expected to open at the college’s Detroit Lakes and Fergus Falls campuses within the next few months.

SBDCs connect small business owners and entrepreneurs with federal, state and local government resources along with the resources and knowledge of higher education institutions, economic development organizations and the private sector. The national SBDC program is the country’s largest small business assistance network.

A member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities, M State serves more than 6,500 students in credit courses each year in over 70 career and liberal arts programs online and in-person at its campuses in Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Moorhead and Wadena. The college also partners with communities to provide workforce development services and other responsive training programs.