In January the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) hosted by College of the Canyons received a number of top performance awards during the year-end Los Angeles Regional SBDC 2011 Kick-Off Meeting, celebrating the SBDC for its consistency and top results in helping small business owners learn, compete and grow.

The awards ceremony, which was sponsored by the SBDC Lead Center at Long Beach City College, took place Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. The event recognized top performance amongst the network of six Southern California area SBDC locations, with all awards jointly presented by the SBDC Lead Center and the Small Business Administration (SBA) Region 9.

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The SBDC hosted by College of the Canyons was presented with awards for most jobs created (274) and for consistently generating top economic milestones (including $7.4 million in client raised capital and a $15.6 million increase in client sales) in 2010.

In fact, the SBDC hosted by COC was the top performing SBDC office in all of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura County for 10 of 12 months in 2010, and ranked second the other two months.

In addition, SBDC assistant director Catherine Grooms was presented with an individual award recognizing her many contributions to the success of the Center in 2010.

“I am pleased to see the tremendous efforts of our business advisors, our assistant director Catherine Grooms and the successes of our clients recognized with these awards,” said Steven Tannehill, director of the SBDC hosted by College of the Canyons. “Our service area is one of the largest served of any SBDC, which can be challenging. Yet Catherine and our team of expert business advisors and the clients they serve consistently achieve the highest levels of success, as recognized by these awards.”

The SBDC hosted by College of the Canyons was launched in January 2006 and serves the Santa Clarita, Antelope Valley, and San Fernando Valleys. SBDC business advisors assist prospective and existing small business owners in starting, retaining or expanding their businesses by providing workshops, one-on-one consulting, and many other resources to the business community.

For more information about the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) hosted by College of the Canyons please email sbdc@canyons.edu, call (661) 362-5900, or visit www.cocsbdc.org.