More investment needed in efforts to aid small business

INNOVATIVE APPROACH: Douglas Jobling, northern Rhode Island regional director of Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales University, says that small-business owners are key innovators driving economic development. / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT
INNOVATIVE APPROACH: Douglas Jobling, northern Rhode Island regional director of Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales University, says that small-business owners are key innovators driving economic development. / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT

When the opportunity came up in 1983 to help establish the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center program at Bryant University, Douglas Jobling didn’t think twice.
Jobling had wanted a career in state and municipal government, concentrating in workforce training. His motivation came from realizing through his work that there needed to be a stronger relationship between a state’s educational and business communities and feeling the concept of offering free and lost-cost services to small-business owners through a university-based program could help bridge that gap.
He’s been with the center since then, overseeing its transition from Bryant University to Johnson & Wales University, and stepping down to concentrate on counseling businesses in northern Rhode Island.
Last month he was named the 2012 State Star of Rhode Island at the Association of Small Business Development Center’s annual conference in New Orleans. It was the second time Jobling was honored with this award. He first won the title in 2005.

PBN: You were the establishing state director of the RISBDC program in Rhode Island. What did it take to get the program going?
Jobling: There was a lot of enthusiasm in the small-business community and among the network [which was] so important to making a program like this successful. [There were] just a whole group of organizations and state agencies [helping] and there was so much enthusiasm that the biggest hurdle – and I don’t know if I can even call it a hurdle – was simply convincing the small-business community that a university program could provide capable assistance. That’s something I think we’ve definitely overcome.

PBN: What do you feel has been the program’s biggest success to date?
Jobling: Frankly, I think, what I tell people is that the best business decision I ever made in my life was to expand the [program’s] capacity by bringing in private consultants. Every other [such center] relies fully on full-time employees to provide counseling. We brought in people with expertise in virtually every business discipline you can imagine so that the expertise is available to that small-businessperson.
PBN: What should the state’s No. 1 focus be in support small business?
Jobling: It’s hard to say No. 1. The two I would identify are what’s generally called the environment for small businesses … [and] second, I’d like to see more investment in both financial opportunities and programs. … I think there’s been a lot of discussion about economic-development policy and one thing that comes up is simply a need to invest in small business.

PBN: Do you feel the state’s small-business owners are utilizing state services and the center as much as they could be?
Jobling: I would like to see more existing businesses utilizing the value of this program and taking advantage of our expertise to do some strategic planning, growth planning, to look at how a relationship between finance and marketing and human resources can give you a competitive advantage.

PBN: Do you feel, as some suggest, there isn’t enough being done to promote the benefits of doing business in Rhode Island?
Jobling: Well, I think there could be more of that but frankly I think I’d like to see more investment not only in attracting business but providing investments to the businesses that are already here and trying to be successful in the state rather than focus quite so much on attracting businesses from other states.

PBN: What, in your opinion, are the real strengths of the Rhode Island small-business community?
Jobling: It’s an innovation factor here. I think the knowledge economy is a great concept. We have to invest more in education and entrepreneurship and growing the base through innovation and creativity.
People always say we’re a small state and everybody knows everybody else. One of the benefits of that is small businesses do have access readily to services and programs.

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PBN: What’s your case for the small-business owner’s role in revitalizing the state’s economy?
Jobling: The last study I saw showed that six out of 10 innovations and inventions came from small businesses. That’s a big factor that demonstrates the benefit of innovation. More than half the jobs in our state are in small business. Most small businesses we work with are at a stage where they are poised to grow. The investment in the education community in the state needs to be strengthened, but compared to a lot of states, that’s an area where we have strength.

PBN: What’s the No. 1 thing for which clients come to the RISBDC?
Jobling: It’s two. It’s the marketing and looking for assistance in building top-line revenue or financing in either starting or growing a business. We help them develop a business plan and help them prepare … to go to a bank for a commercial loan. •

INTERVIEW
Douglas Jobling
Position: northern Rhode Island regional director, Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales University
Background: Jobling began his career with the U.S. Department of Labor-funded employment and training system in Brockton, Mass., before helping to establish, as its first state director, the RISBDC program at Bryant University in 1983. He stepped down to become the northern R.I. and Providence regional director in 1998.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in government, NASSON College, 1969; master’s degree in urban affairs, Boston University, 1975; MBA, Bryant University, 1985
First Job: Blueberry picker
Residence: Burrillville
Age: 65

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