Bill Vickery, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) director, is pleased to announce that the SBDC has received state recognition for dedication to its clients.  In the September, 2007, issue of the Missouri-Kansas business magazine, Ingram's, the SBDC was ranked first in the state of Missouri for the number of businesses counseled in 2006.  Larry Cooper is the senior business counselor for the SBDC and is responsible for most of the consultations.

"This is a great tribute to the staff of the Small Business Development Center," Vickery said. Furthermore, the ranking of the SBDC in all of the Missouri-Kansas dual region moved from sixth place in 2005 to fifth place overall in 2006, Vickery said.

Vickery explained that the mission of the SBDC is to promote entrepreneurship by delivering valuable resources, training and consultation to new and existing business owners throughout their 19-county service area,which includes all of the Missouri Bootheel, the Cape Girardeau, Perryville and St.Genevieve areas, and several  counties south of St. Louis.

SBDC presented an award during the departmental holiday party in December 2007.
Right to Left:  Bill Vickery, SBDC Director; Dennis Roedmeier, CEO MRC;
Karen Carr, former SBDC Sr. Admin. Asst.; Larry Cooper, Sr. Business Counselor.