The University’s Center for Economic Development Business Reference Guide is available for Small Businesses in Virginia to utilize for quick and reliable information.

Since 2006, the Center for Economic Development has compiled the Business Reference Guide as a business intelligence tool for Virginia small companies. Each year more information is added and validated to create what the guide has become today.

Some major topics included in the guide are: Business Data and Statistics, E-commerce and Retail, Main Street Resources, and Local Impact for a Small Business.

“Business Intelligence is an advantage for entrepreneurs and business owners,” says Brian Baker, the Executive Director of the Center for Economic Development. “The 13th Annual Business Reference Guide is designed to help them find answers and save time from a comprehensive source.”

The UMW Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a program at the Center for Economic Development, uses the resource guide to help small business clients. The SBDC provides assistance to the small business community through management training, industrial and demographic research, and confidential one-on-one consulting with a focus on capital access and management planning.

“I always include the business reference guide as a resource to our new business owners,” says Angela Kelley, Early Venture Specialist of the Small Business Development Center. “It provides them with valuable resources to help them start and grow their business.”

To view the 2018 Business Reference Guide, please click here.