State Office
227 Isenberg School of Management
University of Massachusetts
121 Presidents Drive
Amherst, MA 01003-9310
www.msbdc.org

Georgianna Parkin, State Director

The Boston Regional Office & Minority Business Center provides business owners with access to a network of resources, which will better enable them to meet the challenges entrepreneur’s face. The center provides a full range of business advising and training activities; services include assistance with developing an effective business plan, financing and loan assistance, strategic, marketing, and operational analysis. The Boston Regional Office welcomes the opportunity to leverage resources for minority entrepreneurs. Se habla Español.

Since its inception in May 1994, the Massachusetts Export Center has assisted over 12,500 companies and individuals, and serves as the state's point of contact for Massachusetts businesses seeking export assistance and information.

Through the Massachusetts Export Center, companies can access a broad range of export assistance and services, including: export readiness assessments, one-on-one export counseling; export workshops, training programs and conferences; informative export publications; overseas market research and trade statistics; international marketing activities, include trade missions and shows; a network of overseas offices providing customized assistance to qualifying companies; meetings with visiting international business delegations; export financing; and an informative web site featuring international business information and upcoming trade-related events. The center offers a full range of international training topics through Partners for Trade, an executive seminar series. Topics include, but are not limited to, letters of credit, export logistics, financing, export controls and licensing, and the popular Certified Global Business Professional series.

The Massachusetts Export Center, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has four offices which are strategically located throughout the state to assist companies on a local level. The Boston office serves as headquarters, with additional offices in Holyoke, New Bedford and Worcester.

Winner of the Presidential E Award for Excellence in Exporting

The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network received federal and state funding to establish a statewide Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). Resources are concentrated on assistance to small, minority- and women-owned firms statewide with an emphasis on high areas of unemployment including Hub Zones. The program manager is housed at the MSBDC Western Regional Office in Springfield with procurement specialists housed in Springfield, Lawrence, Boston, Fall River and Worcester. PTAC provides technical assistance in bid matching for federal, state and municipal procurement opportunities.

Much of the counseling services are performed at the client's firm location, making the technical support delivery available in a timely and cost effective manner. E-commerce, including registering, bidding and performing on-line, in a paperless environment is a vital part of federal contracting. The counseling staff supports vendors in those efforts. Technical data, such as military specifications, standards, pricing histories and technical information by part number will be supplied. The development of targeted marketing plans with help registering with each buying agency is also available.