College to Open Center for Small Business Development

Rancho Santiago College plans to open the Orange County Small Business Development Center early next year.

The center, which will provide consulting and referral services to residents who need help in starting or maintaining a small business, will be the only one of its kind in the county, college officials said.

“We hope to direct people so they don’t have to stumble around through a myriad of agencies,” said Bonnie Slager, assistant dean of the business division at Rancho Santiago College.

The center will offer counseling, technical assistance, loan packaging and access to government small business finance programs. It will also sponsor classes, workshops and conferences in cooperation with other business organizations within the county.

“It’s a really good way for people in a small business to get into an organized support system,” Slager said. “There are a lot of people out there who are really lost in terms of knowing what they have to do to get started and where to get help.”

The center is being funded through a three-year $500,000 grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and is one of 18 such centers in the state.

It will be housed, rent free, at the city’s Santa Ana Business Enterprise Center at 901 E. Santa Ana Blvd.

The center will have one full-time consultant and one full-time clerical staff member as well as a number of part-time consultants. They will make referrals to relevant agencies and aid in problem solving, Slager said.