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2 Celebrating 35 Years • CTSBDC Welcome Letters Emily Carter, state director CTSBDC ............................2 Seth Goodall, New England Regional Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration ....................3 What We Do .................4 Software Tools for Clients ............................5 The CTSBDC reaches out ....................6 Expert Export Advice....6 O ne thing I want our clients — any Connecticut small business looking to grow or entrepreneurs starting out — to know is that the CTSBDC, like you, is a small business. We are walking the walk and building our business from the ground up, just like you are: setting goals, facing struggles and celebrating progress. is year — on the 35th anniversary of America's SBDC program — it's especially rich to look back at what we have accomplished and where we're headed. It means we've taken other small businesses in the state right along with us, and will continue to do so in new and innovative ways in years to come. e CTSBDC and its dedicated team is committed to serving the Connecticut small business community; part of a national network that offers structure, resources and this commitment to its clients. See more about the kind of results we produce on Page 5. We are invested in our mission and enjoy what we do. Together, our team brings 245 years of real-world experience to our clients, who are excited to see how we nurture growing companies year in, year out. We want them to see new possibilities for themselves and their businesses — whether that means opening a new location, adding an export program, or purchasing equipment. And our resources continue to grow. Milestones During the past year and a half, we have: • Reached out and served more special emphasis groups, such as veteran-, women-, and minority-owned businesses. We ensure they have access to resources and capital. • Made our resources more accessible to all entrepreneurs by adding nearly 30 virtual centers in libraries across the state to our existing 18 physical locations to support all levels of development. • Begun to offer the use of soware tools that would otherwise be cost prohibitive to small businesses, either at no cost or at a well-below market cost. • Taken many businesses global. But you don't have to hear about the center's good work from me. Hear it from our actual clients within this publication, who represent different industries and had different obstacles to overcome. eir Success Stories can be found on Pages 9, 11 and 12. How can we help you? — Emily Carter, state director, Connecticut Small Business Development Center 35 Years of Dedicated Innovation Success Stories Sixpence Pie Company ..........9 Park Place East .................. 11 Luke's Toy Factory ..............12 PrepareCT A new disruption and disaster recovery program ..............10 Four ways to get unstuck Meet speaker Barry Moltz ....13 CTSBDC: Virtually convenient from anywhere ..................... 14 What We've Achieved ......................15 Credits: Editor: Susan Shalhoub Art Director: Lynn Mika © 2015 All rights reserved. Produced by the Hartford Business Journal Custom Publishing Division. For more info on custom publishing, contact 860.236.9998 x129 or visit www.HartfordBusiness.com/ custompublishing