Lisa is the Senior Financial Analyst for the Small Business Development Center. She handles the daily management of federally funded grants, budget tracking and reconciliations, financial reporting, and enforcing University and SBDC financial policies. Before she joined our team, she was the associate director of Graduate Student Events and Operations for the Fox Graduate Division, overseeing the execution of events and financial processes for the MBA and MS Programs.
We recently sat down with Lisa to chat about the work she does with the SBDC.
What aspect of your work do you think makes the biggest impact?
As the senior financial analyst, I’m regularly working with grant funding. During the pandemic, my primary focus was the CARES Act federally funded grant program. It allowed us to help people navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that funding, the TU SBDC was able to help small businesses get back on their feet.
How does your work enable the Temple SBDC to empower local entrepreneurs?
My work enables the Temple SBDC to empower local entrepreneurs because it allows us to fund no-cost webinars and courses like the “BRIGHT” course. This allows local entrepreneurs to further develop skills in aspects of business that they might otherwise not have known or have gone to school for.
How do you feel Covid-19 impacted the need for Temple’s Small Business Development Center?
The SBDC has been a pillar in helping our clients navigate the changing business climate created by the virus. None of us thought the pandemic would last so long, so helping small businesses pivot has been essential. Small business owners and entrepreneurs needed guidance. The entire small business community had to begin operating in uncharted territory. A lot of people did not have the resources to sustain their businesses long-term during the pandemic. The SBDC has been able to rise to meet this challenge, and help entrepreneurs navigate an extremely difficult time for small businesses by offering advice and resources to help them survive and even thrive in the current economic climate. In this uncertain world, one thing is certain. The SBDC is here is to help small businesses start, grow, and succeed.
What challenges do you think the SBDC is best able to help aspiring entrepreneurs solve?
I think we’re able to help people tap into their passion. If you lack creativity, we’re able to provide you with resources to help channel your passion into a creative form. If you don’t know how to create a proper pitch deck, we’re able to help you with that. The SBDC is able to help you through every stage of launching and growing your small business. We’re able to give you advice and provide you with resources to help with everything from picking the right business idea, to how to initially market your business, all the way up to marketing and positioning your business for sustainable growth.
Looking for help with your small business? Sign up here to meet with a no cost consultant.