Photo | Eric Casey
Worcester Mayor Joesph Petty speaks to a crowd at the opening of the downtown office of Clark's Small Business Development Center on Thursday.
September 13, 2024
Clark opens downtown Worcester office for its Small Business Development Center
Photo | Courtesy of Clark University
State Sen. Robyn Kennedy (D-Worcester) speaks at the opening of the downtown location of Clark's Senior Business Development Center.
Clark University in Worcester officially opened a downtown space for its Small Business Development Center on Thursday in an effort to make its services more accessible to local small business owners.
The downtown SBDC location is within the Worcester Business Development Corp.’s Idea Lab at 20 Franklin St., which opened in 2015 as part of a $42-million redevelopment project, according to the Idea Lab’s website.
“I can’t imagine having a better group of students and fellow colleagues at Clark to make that dream possible,” David Jordan, dean of Clark’s School of Business, said at a ribbon cutting event on Thursday. “The Small Business Development Center provides our students with a living laboratory, just as biology and chemistry students need a lab to practice what they learn in classes.”
Jordan was coaxed out of a brief retirement in October 2023 to lead Clark’s business-focused school, following a long career as CEO of Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates in Worcester. In June, Clark renamed its School of Management to the School of Business, a move which Jordan and other school officials said was an attempt to make the business school stand out in today’s competitive higher education landscape.
The new downtown location is meant to serve as a more convenient way for business leaders to access the SBDC’s services and will allow members of the student-run Clark Consulting Group to meet with business owners, assisting them with topics ranging from marketing research to business planning and financial analysis.
“I want to extend gratitude to Clark University for this investment downtown,” Sen. Robyn Kennedy (D-Worcester), a Clark graduate, said at the event. “In so many ways, you’re helping these individuals launch their business and then grow their capacity and their ability to thrive in our community.”
The Small Business Development Center has operated at Clark since 1983, as part of the federally funded Massachusetts Small Business Development Network, according to a February post on ClarkNOW, the university’s news website.
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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