SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Central Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has opened a new location at The Springfield Project. The new office allows east side residents to have easy access to resources and events offered by the organization. 

"We're looking at centralizing those important resources for not just minority business owners, but business owners throughout Springfield, and also those who are underserved," said Dominic Watson, the President of the Springfield Project and the Springfield Black Chamber of Commerce. "We know underserved business owners throughout Springfield and even nationally lack access to resources." 

Starting a new business can be an intimidating process. Business owners have to tackle finding a location, filing paperwork, making big decisions, and ensuring their business is actually profitable. Community Advisors with SBDC are able to help new business owners tackle some of these challenges. 

"We do have online and in-person appointments available to help with all sorts of things," said Lashonda Fitch, a Community Advisor at Central Illinois SBDC. "Really how to get started, how to register and legitimize their business, the differences amongst the legal entities that are available — really just learning the foundation of getting their business started. Once they're in business, we discuss opportunities for scaling, or connecting to credit financing, or what type of funding is available to them."

Most of the resources offered by the Central Illinois SBDC are confidential and free. 

The SBDC is hosting their event "Starting a Small Business in Illinois" on Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. That will take place at The Springfield Project, located at 1100 S. Grand Avenue in Springfield. 

For more information on the Springfield Project and resources offered there, click this link. For more information on the Central Illinois Small Business Development Center, click this link.

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