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Kutztown University Small Business Development Center Accepts $25,000 Donation for Nascent Entrepreneurs

Kutztown, PA (12/07/2018) — The Kutztown University Small Business Development Center (KUSBDC) received a $25,000 donation from BB&T Bank to better serve nascent entrepreneurs on Friday at a press briefing in the Old Main Concourse at Kutztown University.

The donation was presented by David Roland, president of BB&T Berks County/Northern Montgomery County Market, and Betsy Reeder, senior vice president and regional business banking manager of BB&T.

"We are proud to provide community leadership at this level and play a role in the future health and prosperity of Berks County," Roland said. "Our donation to Kutztown University's Small Business Development Center is part of our BB&T Economic Growth Fund."

In conjunction with the BB&T/National Penn merger, $2.5 million was entrusted to the Berks County Community Foundation to establish a BB&T Economic Growth Fund. To date, the BB&T Economic Growth Fund has awarded a total of $2,392,000.

The donation was presented to the KUSBDC for the work the center has done in Berks County and will be used to better serve nascent entrepreneurs throughout the county. The SBDC aims to improve economic development by providing the appropriate educational resources to both entrepreneurs who are looking to start a business and small business owners who are looking for assistance and learning opportunities.

Currently, the KUSBDC has 201 active clients in Berks County.

"BB&T has shown continuous support for our organizations and the work we do to offer free consulting services and workshops to existing businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs," Dr. Ernie Post, director of the KUSBDC, said. "This grant will have impact on Berks County as it will aid in providing the proper education and guidance needed to assist nascent entrepreneurs."

Small businesses provide 55 percent of all jobs and 66 percent of all net new jobs. In the U.S., existing small businesses comprise 99 percent of all employer firms, employ nearly half of the workforce and account for more than 60 percent of the private sector's net new jobs.

The KUSBDC is part of a state-wide network of colleges and university centers, which is a joint venture of federal, state and private sector agencies and organizations including the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. As of July 2018, the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center is hosted by Kutztown University.

For more information on the PA-SBDC visit http://www.pasbdc.org.

For more information on the KU-SBDC visit www.kutztown.edu/SBDC.

About Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)

The Pennsylvania SBDC network is the only statewide, nationally accredited program that provides high quality one-on-one consulting, training and research resources to empower new and existing businesses. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, individualized sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business program is a public/ private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth. For more information on the Pennsylvania SBDC services and impact, please visit www.pasbdc.org.

Media Attachments

(L to R): David Roland, president of BB&T Berks County/Northern Montgomery County Market; Dr. Anne Carroll, dean of the College of Business, Dr. Ernie Post, director of the KUSBDC; and Alex Ogeka, executive director of the KU Foundation and Alumni Relations.

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