Overview
The mission of the Global Small Business Network (GSBN) is to strengthen and build the long-term competitiveness of the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector. The GSBN has four core objectives:
- Develop, strengthen, and connect a global network of MSME assistance programs based on the proven U.S. Small Business Development Center (SBDC) model which generates measurable economic impact.
- Connect thousands of SBDC centers and their professionals to facilitate increased collaboration, communication, and sharing of best practices which will drive continuous improvement.
- Open global markets for millions of SBDC clients and empower them to take advantage of trade and investment opportunities within the GSBN.
- Promote increased MSME innovation and technology commercialization opportunities with university research partners.
The SBDC Model Drives the GSBN
The SBDC model provides the GSBN with a common MSME assistance methodology that is efficient, scalable, and most importantly generates economic impact. The proven SBDC methodology has been successfully adapted and adopted to every imaginable context, from fast-growing urban centers to rural communities with significant development challenges. The one common denominator is that the SBDC model always generates results.
Why is the GSBN Important?
MSMEs are key drivers of job creation and broad-based economic growth for every country. Countries that do not utilize the SBDC methodology will have a fragmented, ineffective, and inefficient MSME assistance program that is focused on activities and not results. The GSBN initiative, which is supported by the U.S. Department of State, aims to build a common MSME infrastructure that:
- Improves MSME start-up and scale-up performance which results in increased sales, access to capital, promotes productivity and long-term competitiveness, and that creates and saves jobs.
- Focuses available MSME assistance resources into a single program that reduces inefficient duplication and fragmentation as well as produces a positive return on investment for taxpayers.
- Generates economic opportunities that will reduce the informal economy, poverty, inequality, unemployment, and delinquency which drives illegal migration.
- Empowers marginalized groups such as women and youth entrepreneurs, informal businesses, rural and agricultural producers.
Participating countries administer and finance their own SBDC networks from domestic resources, typically from the national government Ministries, with matching funds from universities, local agencies, NGOs, and private sector sources. This approach allows for an integrated and sustainable public-private-academic partnership structure that is cost effective.
The grand vision of the GSBN is to tie together and internationalize the world’s small business assistance programs and their millions of MSME clients using a common SBDC operating system. This will allow SBDC networks, their centers, advisors, clients, and university hosts to connect with one another for learning, trade, investment, and technology commercialization opportunities that will create massive results.