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USC Regional SBDC Launches Spanish Language Web Site
Moore alumnus Stephen Sywulka (IMBA ’05) may look Scandinavian, but he is Guatemalan – his parents are missionaries there, as were his grandparents and great-grandparents, and that is where he was raised. During his internship with the University of South Carolina Regional SBDC (Small Business Development Center) housed at the Moore School, he used his language skills to translate the SBDC Web site into Spanish to serve the growing Hispanic population in the Midlands of South Carolina.
“It has become clear that to meet Hispanics’ needs, we must reach them through… their language, to some extent,” says Jim Brazell, director of the USC Regional SBDC. “And more and more, we must rely on our Web site to communicate about our programs.” (The statewide Frank L. Roddey SBDC Web site also offers a Spanish language version, in addition to German and French.)
U.S. Census figures are that the number of Hispanics in the state now stands at nearly 100,000, with that number expected to double by 2010, according to the South Carolina Hispanic Outreach Web site. However, those numbers may be conservative. Hispanic Outreach cites a USC study that puts the current population at nearly 160,000 and projects that number to grow to 316,000 by 2010.
The SBDC has benefited from its location in the Moore School and access to Spanish-speaking graduate students like Sywulka, who are helping to implement the Center’s outreach to the Hispanic community.
The statewide office of the SBDC is actively recruiting more graduate business students with Spanish language skills to hold seminars, develop Spanish language promotional materials, and help Hispanic entrepreneurs write business plans to start their own businesses. The SBDC has 14 offices around the state and offers one-on-one counseling and regularly scheduled seminars for anyone interested in starting or growing a small business.
It is important to make entrepreneurs in the Hispanic community aware of SBDC services available to them, says Brazell. The Spanish-language Web site is a good start. To view the site, click here .