The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing regarding the community development microenterprise block grant through the Oregon Coast Community College. Dave Price the director of the Small Business Development Center or SBDC thanked the commissioners for helping small businesses in Lincoln County.

He said they work to grow and expand new and small businesses. They offer classes and workshops and one on one counseling for business owners. Some of these programs like the Small Business management program he said can cost hundreds of dollars. He said the microenterprise grant helped these businesses participate in workshops and classes that they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Price also praised the work of Neighbors for Kids who work with up to a dozen businesses in the county to work with kids and learn entrepreneurship. All together 47 businesses participated in the classes and programs through the SBDC made possible from the grant. The only drawback according to Price is the limitations of what the funds can be used for and all of the tracking paperwork involved. It is for these reasons that Price said they will not likely try for the grant again this next year.

He said the funds can only be used for the classes and workshops and don’t include the follow up work or promotions of the program. Price thanked the county and the cities of Newport, Lincoln City and Waldport also fund their programs through the SBDC. Commissioner Hall praised the program for the job retention and creation saying there were 20 jobs created and 32 jobs retained, which can have a big impact to the local economy.

Story by Kiera Morgan