Imagine it: you are launching a small business, but bogged down with questions. Or maybe you've already incubated your business and need help to get it to the next level. A free consultant suddenly coming along with answers to your questions and the help you need to succeed.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but thanks to the Penn State Small Business Development Center (SBDC), it’s not just wishful thinking.

Located inside the Technology Center at Innovation Park, SBDC offers free, one-on-one consulting and frequent, free seminars geared at providing entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs with the information and education needed to succeed.

One of the most popular seminars held each month is the SBDC’s First Step to Small Business Success, a three-hour session aimed at helping budding entrepreneurs begin the process of owning a successful business, including developing a business plan, exploring financial options, and more. 


Flavia Barger, Nick Barger and Yamá Castilho (center) cut the SBDC ribbon for their business venture Brazilian Munchies along with Karan Waigand, U.S. Small Business Administration Pittsburgh District; Solomon Wheeler, U.S. Small Business Administration Eastern PA District (left) and Jennifer Riden, business consultant for the Penn State SBDC and Kimberlee MacMullen, director of the Penn State SBDC (right). Photo from Facebook.

“From ‘First Steps,’ I hope the participants have a clearer picture of the next steps that they need to do to start business, because it can be overwhelming!” said Kimberly Tremaglio, the Events and Marketing Coordinator at the Penn State SBDC. “There are a lot of resources, a lot of things to think about, so this kind of breaks it down: if you want to write a business plan, here are the steps that you need. Here are the people that you need on your team; for instance, you need an accountant, maybe you need an insurance agent, and here are the reasons why. It breaks everything down step-by-step to put it in manageable pieces so it’s not so overwhelming.”

The feedback from participants in the First Steps seminar has been overwhelmingly positive and has helped fuel the continuation of the seminar, with the next sessions to be offered on March 12 at 9 a.m. at the Technology Center and at the same location on April 9 at 1 p.m.

It is also feedback from participants and consulting clients that has led to the development of other seminars, including two popular upcoming ones: Doing Business with Penn State, to be held March 28 at 10 a.m., and Social Media for Small Business, on April 25 at 1 p.m.

“It’s fun; our consultants meet with clients and get a sense of, what are clients asking about, and what do we think that they need?” said Tremaglio, who then helps plan seminar programming based on those needs. “In March we’re doing a ‘Doing Business with Penn State’ workshop which is really cool because we cover how do you go about getting those contracts with Penn State, and what do you need to do to get those contracts? That’s always a popular topic!

“We want to provide a service to the community and to folks interested in starting small businesses in order to help boost economic movement in the area,” explained Tremaglio. “We provide these services to people wanting to start businesses, and that in turn helps the economy.”