In the Business of Helping Businesses

Give Davis College of Business and Economics Dean Joy Bhadury, Ph.D., 10 minutes, and he will give you an hour’s worth of information about why having the Roanoke Regional Small Business Development Center (SBDC) on campus is a boon for the economic development of the New River Valley, as well as an asset for Radford University.

It is not that he is a fast talker, but instead brimming with excitement and enthusiasm that the SBDC is in the NRV thanks to the collaboration of several local economic development agencies. And, it is on Radford’s campus, in the Davis College, just down the hallway from his office, in Room 300.

The SBDC’s location is important to Bhadury, and the SBDC’s campus hub in the Davis College has several advantages to the businesses it serves in the region and to the University and its students. Bhadury gleefully talks about them all. He begins with students, because that is “what we do here,” according to Bhadury. ”We provide a world-class business education.”

The SBDC is a champion resource for advising, training and counseling individuals, who operate startups and small businesses. Its mission is to support and strengthen its clientele of small businesses in the New River Valley.

“Many of those clients have ongoing projects that could benefit significantly from the expertise of our faculty and students,” Bhadury says. “And, in turn, our students could gain real-world experience by working with small- or medium-sized businesses in their nascent phase. They can learn how to grow a business from those experiences.”

It is a win-win situation for both the University, its students and the SBDC.

“Our students learn within the laboratory of a small business and see it from the inside,” Bhadury continues. “The SBDC meets its core mission of helping small businesses; we meet our mission of providing a preeminent business education.”

Offering assistance, too, is the highly regarded Davis College faculty, who possess a wide range of business knowledge and know-how.

Regional small business development centers make up a statewide network. The Roanoke Regional SBDC serves the New River and Roanoke valleys, as well as the Alleghany Highlands. By placing the NRV office on Radford University’s campus, the center is better equipped to provide its signature pro bono business assistance throughout the region by helping existing businesses thrive and start-up businesses navigate a road to success.

In 2018, the Roanoke Regional SBDC served more than 300 clients and provided more than 1,100 hours of counseling. More than 60 percent of its clients were existing businesses, and nearly 40 percent were startups. SBDC engagement resulted in more than $3.2 million in capital investment in client businesses.

The University announced the SBDC’s campus location in June 2019. In doing so, President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., reflected on the University’s strategic plan, which pinpoints community partnerships and economic development as key tenets.

“By fostering relationships and a culture of service within and beyond our community, Radford University significantly contributes to strengthening the economic landscape and workforce needs of the region,” Hemphill said.

The strategic plan calls for the University to identify ways in which it can “contribute to economic development and strengthen community partnerships by identifying ways in which the campus can use its physical and intellectual resources to enrich its mission, define its brand, enhance the region and support job creation and growth.”

“That is exactly what the University is doing through this partnership,” Bhadury says. “We, through providing a location and the expertise of our faculty and students, are helping the SBDC serve the community, which in turn sparks economic growth, which benefits everyone,” he continues. “We are providing opportunities and a world-class education to our students, and we are providing a home to an important economic development office.”

The SBDC campus home brings another benefit that might not be easily seen at first, Bhadury points out, but is an important building block for the University: Visibility.

When the SBDC hosts an event, for example, such as a training seminar for would-be entrepreneurs, it brings to campus some of the top business professionals from the NRV and beyond.

“Wouldn’t it be great if they went back to their homes, their communities, and told everyone what a great place Radford University is for helping businesses and helping communities grow?” Bhadury asks rhetorically. “And, wouldn’t it be great if they talked about our bright students and their eagerness to learn and help?

“It reinforces in their minds that, located right here in their backyard, Radford University is, an institution willing to serve and build upon the community and the state it calls home.”