UTSA, Guadalajara grant to develop Mexican businesses

(Oct. 18, 2002)--The University of Texas at San Antonio and the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara will receive $300,000 over the next three years to establish the framework for a small-business assistance network in Mexico. The network will be modeled on the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) in the United States.

Awarded by the U. S. Agency for International Development’s Teaching, Internships, Education and Scholarship (TIES) program for Mexico, the grant supports development of a prototype center from the newly created Guadalajara SBDC, initiated last year using the UTSA SBDC as a model. With the assistance of UTSA’s economic-development experts, the Guadalajara SBDC is beginning a two-year process of becoming fully operational and accredited by the Association of Small Business Development Centers.

The TIES award, for which more than 300 universities throughout the United States and Mexico competed, provides funding to establish a small-business development infrastructure in Mexico, including a core of trained professionals offering economic development extension services through universities. Another component involves promotion of bilateral trade opportunities between the small-business sectors of the United States and Mexico via the UTSA International Trade Center.

Ultimately, the Mexican government intends to create more than 100 Mexican Small Business Development Centers, as part of the Bush/Fox Partnership for Prosperity initiative announced earlier this year in Monterrey. Mexico will provide funding for these centers from their federal government, the Secretary of the Economy and the National Finance agencies.

In a letter to UTSA President Ricardo Romo, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow, said, “I commend UTSA for its strong international commitment to develop a nascent network of small business development centers in Mexico.

“Strengthening the center in Guadalajara and then replicating it with other university partners will be good for small business and for international trade,” Davidow added.

In a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, UTSA hosts a regional SBDC program for almost one-third of Texas and encompassing the entire Texas-Mexico border. The program serves over 18,000 small businesses annually and created over $70 million dollars of economic impact in fiscal year 2001 alone. Professional counselors and trainers provide comprehensive management and technical assistance services to new entrepreneurs, existing businesses and companies interested in technology and international trade.

For more information, contact Robert McKinley at (210) 458-2450.

The UTSA SBDC is one of the entities comprising the UTSA Institute for Economic Development. Members of the Tri-Campus community are invited to join IED staff for an informal "topping-out" ceremony at 11:45 a.m. Monday at the Downtown Campus marking placement of the last piece of support steel for the IED's permanent facility, scheduled for completion in late spring 2003.

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