MSBDC Boston Regional Office | Services & Programs

Services and Programs

Business Advising

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center provides free and confidential business assistance to small businesses in the greater Boston area, including those on the South Shore and in the Neponset Valley. Areas of assistance include, but are not limited to:

   > Start-up Business
    > Business Plan Development
     > Financial Plan Development
     > Marketing and Sales Strategies
     > Cash Flow Analysis
     > Organizational and Personnel Issues
     > Government Procurement Assistance
     > International Trade Assistance

Please complete our Request for Counseling (pdf*) and bring the completed form with you to your first counseling appointment. You may type directly on the Request for Counseling from your computer.

Training and Seminars

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center conducts low-cost seminars, workshops, courses and conferences addressing a wide range of concerns for both start-up and existing businesses. Many of these programs are co-sponsored with local chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, community development organizations, banks and trade associations.

    > Seminars (sales, marketing, business planning financing, etc.)
    > Workshops (entrepreneurial, customer service, etc.)
    > Courses (internet, research, etc.)
    > Conferences (women in business, focus groups)

For a listing of the Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center workshop offerings, visit www.sbdc.umb.edu/training.html. For a listing of SBDC training seminars offered throughout Massachusetts, visit www.msbdc.org/training.

Capital Formation Services

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center can help you negotiate the financial challenges faced by start-up and expanding businesses. We can assist with assembling financial statements, preparing loan applications and securing the best financing options for your business.

The SBDC does not have funds to lend or invest. We work with banks and other lending organizations (both conventional and non-conventional sources) to assist in putting together financial projections, but the actual financing comes from outside sources, such as:

    > State- or federally-assisted programs
    > Quasi-public financing
    > Angel and venture capital
    > Private financing
    > SBA loan guarantee programs
    > Financial institutions

Procurement Technical Assistance

The Procurement Technical Assistance Center can guide you through the government procurement process and provide you with information on how to become more competitive in the government marketplace.

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center can connect you with a procurement specialist serving the Greater Boston area, or visit the Procurement Technical Assistance Center's website at www.msbdc.org/ptac.

International Trade Assistance

The Massachusetts Export Center offers a wide range of targeted, customized services to Massachusetts businesses at any stage in the export process. These services include: export counseling and technical assistance, international market research and assessment, international business development assistance, export training programs and export publications. International trade counselors are housed in Boston, Holyoke, New Bedford and Worcester.

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center can connect you with an international trade counselor, or visit the Massachusetts Export Center's website at www.mass.gov/export.

* PDFs are readable by Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by clicking on the Acrobat logo.

Copyright 2008
This is an official page of the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.
Produced and maintained by the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network.