About us
The mission of the Business Support Center (BSC) is to help
businesses in Baldwin County, Alabama be more productive and profitable so
that they are each better able to thrive in our cyclical economy. Some
typical focus areas include:
• Discovering new products and customers, as well as
"wowing" current customers
• Improving internal operations
• Collaborating with others
With a particular focus on small- and medium-sized
business, the BSC helps business owners and managers to set goals, and then
provides marketing, management and financial consultation, guidance and
referrals to help them achieve those goals.
Background
The Gulf Coast Business Support Center (BSC) was
established in June, 2010, on Faulkner State Community College's (FSCC)
campus in Gulf Shores. It was set up to provide a place to co-locate state
and federal resources that were available to area businesses that were
affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Business counseling triage was
provided by SBA counselors from the Small Business Development Centers and
from the Women's Business Center. Other organizations on site included
personnel from the Career One Stop Center, the SBA Disaster Loan center, and
FSCC. All of these people were cross-trained to understand each other's
services.
The original concept was for a business owner to meet first
with a business counselor. The counselor would spend enough time with the
business to understand what resources would best match the needs of that
business, and then physically walk the business owner over and introduce him
or her to that resource partner. While this worked fairly well for many
clients, others simply needed sustained counseling to help the business
owner better understand his own business. A good example of this were many
small companies who were trying to fill out a BP claim and realized that
they didn't have the financial records to be able to do this.
We learned that many of the businesses' problems and
opportunities existed pre-disaster; the disaster just turned them into a
crisis. Helping businesses identify needed training and learning
opportunities helps them become stronger and more resilient in the face of
future disasters – and is the reason the BSC exists today.
Location
Business
Support Center offices are located off the main lobby on the campus of
Faulkner State Community College, Gulf Shores Campus.
Business Support Center of Baldwin County
3301 Gulf Shores Parkway
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
(251) 968-3118
www.BSCBaldwin.com.
Appointments 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F - call (251) 968-3118
Need directions? Click
here.
Staff
Our staff includes one full time counselor and a large
number of specialists who are available as needed. Some of these include:
Certified Public Accountants • Public Relations Experts •
Marketing Experts • Financial Planners • Business Start-Up Specialists •
Operations and Facilities Specialists
Services
Business Counseling • Business Planning • Start-Up
Assistance • Accounting and Budgeting Assessments • Financing Strategies and
Resources • Cash Flow Management Evaluation and Guidance • Tax Planning •
Turnaround Assessments • Marketing and Sales • Government Contracting
Training Programs
Business Basics • Managing a Business • Customer Relations
• Cash Flow Management • Lean Enterprise Management • Discovering New
Products and Services • Leadership Skills •
Five Star Hospitality Industry Training for Managers and Employees
Cost
Counseling and most related services are free. Training
programs generally have a per student fee associated with them.
