George Mason University is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia. GMU has been a Mason SBDC sponsor since its inception and is making its mark as a great university of a new and necessary kind – evolving every day to meet changing needs and deliver an education of relevance. In the recent years it has created a need in the growth for entrepreneurship.

The Virginia SBDC is an organization of 27 local Small Business Development Center offices across Virginia, providing professional business counseling, training, and business resources to help grow and strengthen Virginia businesses. Thousands of business owners and managers receive one-on-one counseling every year, and twice as many business owners attend training programs offered by local SBDCs. SBDC professionals assist with business planning, marketing, financial analysis, access to capital, business start-up and other specialized services as requested.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is to “maintain and strengthen the nation’s economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters.” The agency’s activities are summarized as the “3 Cs,” namely capital, contracts, and counseling.

One of the more recent sponsors of Mason SBDC is Prince William County’s Department of Economic Development. Prince William County is a community of choice with a strong, diverse economic base where individuals and families live, work, and play among the various businesses located here. Offering unmatched access to Northern Virginia’s 1.5 million workers and unparalleled quality of place, Prince William County provides businesses fast access to top U.S. markets, a diverse workforce, and the world.

The Manassas city Economic Development Authority‘s (EDA) mission is to attract, retain, generate, and assist in the expansion of high-quality businesses, institutions of higher education, medical facilities, and non-profit organizations to ensure the continued existence of a vibrant, stable, and diverse economy within the City of Manassas and the Commonwealth of Virginia through the use of Industrial Development Bond financing as well as loans and grants.

GO Virginia is a bipartisan, business-led, economic development initiative that is changing the way Virginia’s diverse regions collaborate on economic and workforce development activities. They support programs to create more high-paying jobs through incentivized collaboration between business, education, and government to diversify and strengthen the economy in every region of the Commonwealth.