The Cochise College Small Business Development Center team. Seated, Rachel Norton, Administrative Assistant. From left, Cecilia Rivas Schurmann, International Trade Specialist; Mark Schmitt, Director; Robert Mucci, Business Analyst.
PHOENIX — The Cochise College Small Business Development Center is this year’s Center of Excellence Award recipient for its record of success, innovation and economic impact.
The distinction is given by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which honors state entrepreneurs and small businesses for contributions to the economy as part of Small Business Week, celebrated June 17-21.
In 2012, under the leadership of center director Mark Schmitt, the Cochise College SBDC helped create 166 new jobs, helped retain 73 existing jobs, assisted 51 new businesses to start, assisted businesses to increase sales by $4.9 million and helped small businesses raise $4.3 million in new capital.
Characteristic of many SBDC directors, Schmitt is an entrepreneur himself, having owned and operated a variety of businesses, including a JC Penney Catalogue Desk, a Southwest gift store, a shipping and packaging store, a carpet cleaning business, money services business, collection agency, tuxedo rental store, TV/VCR repair shop and a paging and Internet service business.
The award presentations will be made at the Arizona Small Business Association’s (ASBA) 20th Annual Enterprise Business Awards Luncheon on May 16 at the Phoenician Hotel.
“Each year, the SBA has the honor of spotlighting Arizona winners of our Small Business Week awards in a ceremony that recognizes and celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and community activism that has long characterized the small business community of our great state,” said Robert J. Blaney, the District Director of the SBA in Arizona. “These men and women are the risk takers, the innovators and the employers that power our economy and daily serve our communities, in business and as local leaders.”
Arizona’s SBDC Network is a partnership between Maricopa Community College and the SBA. Centers located throughout the state serve thousands of clients annually through business training programs and free, one-on-one confidential counseling by counselors who use their real-life business ownership and management experience to offer practical and relevant advice.