Larimer SBDC director promoted

FORT COLLINS — Larimer Small Business Development Center’s director, Mike O’Connell, has been promoted to senior director status and will report to Front Range Community College’s vice president of the Fort Collins campus.

“By streamlining our reporting structure, the SBDC will be able to more directly impact businesses right here in Northern Colorado,” Jean Runyon, vice president of the college’s Larimer campus, said in a written statement. “This tightens the connection between our local SBDC and FRCC’s Larimer campus, while helping both organizations evaluate and focus on how best to serve Northern Colorado entrepreneurs.”

“FRCC students and alumni in certain programs are highly likely to work for — or start — a small business in our area,” O’Connell said. “Having the SBDC more closely connected to the Larimer campus gives us better access and outreach to potential clients, and improves an already strong long-term relationship.”

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Out of 14 SBDC centers in Colorado, the Larimer center is consistently one of the state’s top performers, the college said. In 2018, the Larimer SBDC helped clients within the county increase their sales by $24.8 million and secure $18 million in capital funding for their businesses.

Last year, the Larimer SBDC also:

• Helped launch 61 new businesses.
• Helped existing clients add 308 jobs and keep an additional 753 jobs in the county.
• Provided more than 4,500 hours of free consulting to 949 local clients.
• Hosted 101 classes for more than 1,200 local participants.

FRCC has hosted the SBDC office for more than 31 years.