The NJSBDC's field of expertise is in business knowledge. Their vast network of service providers
have access to the best practices, business intelligence from the public and private sector to counsel,
train and educate established and aspiring small business owners so that they can compete more effectively.

"It is important to work with management skills," Kelly said. "We need to get them (local business
entrepreneurs) some assistance since they are 'wearing all the hats' when it comes to running a business.
This is a way to give them some help since our interest is in service to our small businesses
and to provide them with better service."

In 1953 the United States Small Business Administration, which partners with the Rutgers Graduate School of Management and the New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission to sponsor
the NJSBDC, was developed in order to provide financial, technical and management assistance
to help Americans start, run and grow their respective businesses.

The SBA's New Jersey District Office, which is located in Newark, approved 2,125 loans amounting
to $444 million in assistance to small business owners in New Jersey during the Fiscal Year 2001.
An additional 37,000 individual business entrepreneurs received management counseling or attended
management training programs. Also, the SBA's Business Development Program provided
small disadvantaged companies with 187 federal government contracts worth $84 million.

The SBA offers a myriad of financial assistance programs to help individual startup or established
businesses address their specific needs. For more information on available financial assistance programs,
visit www.sba.gov.

The SBA also preaches entrepreneurial development and its nearly 60 publications ranging from
such topics as financial management, marketing, management and planning, products/
ideas/inventions and personnel management are a testament to that fact.

In order to provide expert business advice, the SBA sponsors the Service Corps of Retired
Executives (SCORE), a 10,500-member, nonprofit volunteer association that has served small business
needs for more than 36 years. Volunteer counselors, most of whom are retired business owners
and managers from nearly every area of business management, share their technical and
management knowledge with both present and prospective business owners.

These volunteers work in or near the cities in which they live in and provide free management
counseling and training. Clients meet the volunteers at local SCORE offices, at an SBA office or at
the client's personal place of business.

When a client seeks out assistance from a volunteer he is matched with a counselor in a similar
field of expertise. These volunteers help prospective and established small business owners and
managers identify problems, determine the causes and find solutions. For more information visit
www.nj-score.org.