he Alaska Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Alaska Business share a similar mission. SBDC helps small businesses grow by offering informational resources online and in person. This magazine likewise aspires to strengthen and diversify the state’s commercial sector, and our methods sometimes overlap with SBDC’s. For example, the center’s website aksbdc.org highlights success stories from businesses it assisted, and readers can find role models within these pages, particularly in Amy Newman’s article “Honored Owners.”

Both SBDC and Alaska Business collect and publish data about small businesses. For instance, the July 2024 edition of Alaska Trends reported that the US Small Business Administration considers 99.1 percent of Alaska businesses—i.e., all but about 650 employers—to be “small,” defined as having up to 499 workers on staff.

In its 2023 annual report, SBDC counts about 76,500 small businesses (as of 2020), and more than half are solo owner-operators. Demographically speaking, non-white owners are underrepresented, yet clients seeking SBDC assistance are more diverse, with a higher percentage of military veterans, women, and non-white entrepreneurs.

Through its 6 offices, SBDC supported 165 new businesses established last year, and clients raised more than $37 million in new funding. One avenue is the Phase 0 grant, awarded through UAA for small business innovation research or technology transfer. Furthermore, the Alaska SBDC is the only center of its kind to lead a State Small Business Credit Initiative program. The US Department of the Treasury allocated $60 million to Alaska over 10 years, to be matched by private financing.

This edition of Alaska Trends consults the SBDC annual report for more facts about the small business landscape and the work that its six regional offices have done.