New York SBDC helps nearly 3,000 COVID-impacted small businesses, including Binghamton café

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The New York Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has helped nearly 3,000 COVID-19-impacted small-business owners secure more than $560 million in aid over the last 14 months.

Those businesses include Lost Dog Café & Lounge in Binghamton, a “community staple” for more than 25 years and a New York SBDC client since 1997, SUNY said in a news release.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras on Tuesday visited Lost Dog Café & Lounge to highlight the work of the New York SBDC, a business-assistance organization administered by SUNY and funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The $560 million the SBDC helped businesses secure includes more than $265 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans, nearly $125 million in COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans, as well as other local, state, and federal grants, per the SUNY news release.

Last spring, COVID-19 forced co-owners Marie McKenna and Liz Hughes to shut down Lost Dog Café & Lounge for about two months. The pair worked with the New York SBDC to secure more than $316,000 in PPP funds to keep their staff employed.

On Monday, the New York SBDC helped McKenna and Hughes complete their application for the newly established Restaurant Revitalization Fund, part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The fund will provide direct relief funds to restaurants and other hard-hit food establishments that have experienced significant operational losses due to the pandemic.

“These past 14 months have been difficult for small business owners, and the SBDCs on our campuses across the state have been a lifeline for thousands of entrepreneurs, connecting them with more than $560 million in financial assistance, helping them adapt their business models, providing much-needed expertise, and saving tens of thousands of jobs,” Malatras said.

How SBDC helps

Through business counseling and training, the New York SBDCs say they have helped COVID-19-affected clients stay afloat, reimagine the services they provide and the customers they serve, reopen, and “even thrive over a tumultuous and unprecedented” period for the business community.

Its services have helped save more than 28,000 jobs and create more than 2,500 jobs for client businesses, SUNY said.

With 22 campus-based regional centers and dozens of outreach offices situated in local communities, the New York SBDC employs full-time professional business advisors who provide management and technical assistance to startup and existing businesses.