Starting or Building a Business in Westchester? Get Free Help

If you’re considering, starting or expanding a business in Westchester, you can receive no-cost help preparing business plans, accessing capital or simply receive answers to questions about marketing, production issues, finance and many other topics.

The Westchester Outreach Center of the New York State Small Business Development Center has opened on Fordham University’s campus in Harrison.

The Center offers full-time, expert management and technical assistance to existing businesses, startups and entrepreneurs in Westchester. Professional SBDC advisors, working in conjunction with the extensive resources of Fordham University, offer free one-on-one business counseling, research and training.

The Center, located on the Fordham Westchester Campus at 400 Westchester Ave. in West Harrison, is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment. For more information call (914) 367-3277.

Founded in 1984, the NYS SBDC -- through a statewide network of 23 campus- based regional centers and 29 outreach offices -- brings the resources of academia, the private sector and government to solve business problems and foster entrepreneurship.

It has advised over 277,000 New Yorkers, helping them acquire and invest over $3.6 billion in the state’s small business economy, helping to create or save 130,000 jobs in New York State. The SBDC emphasizes counseling and training services to women, veterans, people with special needs and minority clients. Services are focused on projects that advance the job development, investment and economic growth priorities of New York State, with an emphasis on manufacturers, exporters and technology-oriented firms.

The organization’s Research Network, located in Albany, New York, provides the Westchester SBDC business advisors with the latest economic, demographic, regulatory and other data that can have a positive impact on small business success.