Small-business consulting added to PC Economic Development services

    Up until now, Phillips County was the only county in northeast Colorado that didn’t have a local small-business consultant. Now that’s changed, as the offices of the East Colorado Small Business Development Center and UNC BizHub Collaborative have reinstated a Holyoke satellite office.
    Trisha Herman, executive director of Phillips County Economic Development, will be consulting for the East Colorado SBDC. “It fits hand in hand with what economic development is,” she said, explaining that she views the new consulting as part of her job description at PCED.
    Though Holyoke has had an SBDC office connected with PCED in the past, it’s been a few years. During that time, small businesses and entrepreneurs in Phillips County often traveled to Sterling or Yuma for consulting services.
    Herman was actually one of those people. When opening Holyoke Fitness Club about three years ago, she traveled to Sterling for SBDC consulting services. Working in economic development, she’s exceptionally mindful of keeping things local, and Herman began to question whether Phillips County residents needed to be traveling elsewhere for consulting.
    As Herman began looking into the possibility of becoming a small-business consultant herself, she discovered that the Sterling office had been logging an average of eight hours each month working with individuals from Phillips County. That’s how SBDC landed on starting Herman at eight hours each month. Her training and resources are being received in exchange for an in-kind donation of hours she’s working.

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