The Orange County Inland Empire Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network Lead Center hosted by California State University, Fullerton named the Riverside County Economic Development Agency (EDA) as the host for its newest center, the Coachella Valley SBDC today. The SBDC will serve Coachella Valley’s small businesses with a special focus on top industry sectors including hospitality and food service, retail services and healthcare, each of which are expected to experience growth between 12-44% over the next few years.

The Riverside County EDA is well positioned and possesses an abundance of resources through the County of Riverside to operate the SBDC and maintains a strong understanding of the demographic and economic conditions of the region. “The SBDC will be a perfect compliment to the services the Riverside County EDA already provides. The Coachella Valley SBDC together with the power of the EDA will be a significant asset to the business community in the region,” said Mike Daniel, Regional Director of the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC Network. The EDA has provided direct services to the Coachella Valley business community for over 30 years in unincorporated and city areas, which is sure to create a seamless transition into providing SBDC services. The SBDC will be another essential resource the EDA offers its business community amidst its already valuable portfolio of resources including:

“The County of Riverside has been a tremendous partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration for quite some time. It now gives me great pleasure to welcome them to the SBA family and we look forward to working closely with the County to further strengthen the Coachella Valley’s economic and entrepreneurship base,” said Adalberto Quijada, District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration Santa Ana District.

“It is a great privilege that Riverside County has been selected to bring the Small Business Development Center services to the Workforce Development Center in Indio,” said Riverside County Board Chairman John J. Benoit. “This is outstanding for our businesses and community because we have many partnerships and a wide array of resources at this location to help small businesses succeed.”

The Coachella Valley SBDC grand opening is anticipated by late August whereby full-service operations are expected by late Fall 2016. The SBDC will provide business consulting services at no-cost and business training opportunities from the community of Cabazon, East to the City of Blythe in Riverside County and will be housed at the Coachella Valley Business Center at 44-199 Monroe Street in Indio. The SBDC is co-located with the Workforce Development Center and as the two programs build on a synergy that already exists with businesses in the Coachella Valley, economic impact is sure to follow in the region.