The Small Business Development Center in Renton is looking for a new adviser, but its services are still available from advisers at other centers.
The center, which is located at Renton Technical College, is instrumental in advising start-up businesses in Renton and helping existing businesses with such things as business plans and training. It’s one of a number of such centers operated around the state by Washington State University.
The center’s former adviser, Kevin Hoult, left in November to take a job with the state Department of Social and Health Services in Bellingham.
Bill Taylor, president of the Renton Chamber of Commerce, suggests that Hoult’s clients contact the advisers at the Small Business Development Center at Highline Community College until Hoult’s replacement is selected. The phone number at the center in Des Moines is 206-878-3710.
Hoult was recruited for the state job in Bellingham, Taylor said
“It’s our loss,” Taylor said. “This guy was amazing.”
WSU is screening applicants to replace Hoult. The final interviews will be done by Taylor, Renton’s economic development director Suzanne Dale Estey and interim RTC president Steve Hanson, in consultation with WSU, which will hire the new adviser.
Taylor hopes to have a new adviser on board by the end of January.
The center could face a problem if the hiring process goes into February, Taylor said. The next two months are typically the slowest times for the advisers because of the busy holiday season, he said.
Don Bressler, the former RTC president, is responsible for bringing the development center to Renton, said Taylor.
“He put it all together,” Taylor said. Before then, the chamber had a mentor who worked with small businesses
Hoult’s departure had nothing to do with Bressler’s firing last summer, said Taylor.
The development center at RTC is the only one in the state that’s self-supporting, said Taylor. A bill will be introduced in the next legislative station to obtain state funding for the Renton center and others in the state, he said.
Hoult led the chamber’s Survive and Thrive Workshop series, designed to help Renton businesses cope with the economic downturn. The series is now done, although Taylor said the chamber will consider the future of those workshops once a new adviser is hired.
