‘From A to Z’: How the LSBDC is beating the odds for local startups

‘From A to Z’: How the LSBDC is beating the odds for local startups

Published 2:45 pm Saturday, August 15, 2026

The Louisiana Small Business Development Center is the state’s largest, federally and state-funded resource for entrepreneurs, providing no-cost, confidential business consulting and specialized training.

Nationally accredited and operating through nine regional centers — including inside McNeese State University’s Henning SEED Center — across all 64 parishes, the LSBDC network supports startups and established businesses with financial planning, loan preparation, and market analysis.

Despite its expansive footprint, it remains a hidden gem.

“This organization has been in Louisiana for 40 years and almost nobody knows we exist,” Dean Day, a business consultant for the LSBDC at McNeese, said with a laugh. “We’re the people you want to come see because our services are no cost to whatsoever. We help from A to Z and everything in between.”

The center’s core offerings include business plan development, growth strategies, market research, financing assistance, and targeted sales and marketing techniques.

“We help them get their registrations completed, build business plans, and map out financial projections so they can take them to lenders and secure loans,” Day said. “We help them with marketing plans, and we follow up a year or two later to make sure they’re actually successful.”

That long-term support is vital because the reality of starting a business can be unforgiving.

“Here is a sad statistic — of 100 businesses that start today, 23 of them will be out of business by the eighth month,” Day said. “The track record against an entrepreneur is pretty tough to begin with. When people come and see us, we help improve those odds quite a bit.”

Supported entirely by taxpayers, the center’s confidential, one-on-one counseling and training events deliver contemporary solutions tailored specifically for the Southwest Louisiana market—spanning Allen, Beauregard, Jefferson Davis, Cameron, and Calcasieu parishes.

“To give you an idea of what we have done so far this year, I have personally helped 25 people start a business in and around this five-parish area,” Day said.

Seeing those businesses go from an idea to a reality is exactly why we do this, he said.

“I helped those 25 people secure $7.5 million in bank lending, which created 57 new jobs in the area and helped retain 140 more. What we do brings a direct economic impact to this region.”

Day said he loves telling people to come see their tax dollars at work.

“What we do is bring hope to business owners — to people who have been working for years for someone else, sitting on the sidelines, wanting to be their own boss,” Day said. “That’s what we’re here for. If money is what is stopping you from becoming an entrepreneur, get that out of your head. There’s plenty of money out there; you just have to know the right source to get it.”

Day noted that a large portion of people seeking help lately are interested in opening solo operations, such as lawn care services, painting businesses, and construction contracting.

“We can get them access to capital real quick,” he said. “The reason I mention that is because there are a lot of people working in the trades here who are having to work for larger companies but want to go out on their own. They’re either too scared or they don’t know how to access capital. That’s what we do — we hold them by the hand, create a business plan, and we’ll literally go to the lenders and help them secure their funding.”

Currently, Day is working with five clients and expects to secure between $6 million and $10 million in capital to help launch their businesses. For Day, it all comes back to showing community members exactly how their tax dollars are being utilized.

Day said clients who work in the medical fields are also seeing tremendous success by utilizing the center’s offerings.

“People are sick and tired of working for big, large hospitals or large medical group,” he said. “For example, speech therapists and physical therapists are coming out of those conglomerate groups now and going and starting their own businesses. I’m working with one right now. When we show them the path to success, they say, ‘Well that’s not very difficult. Why was I scared of that?’ It’s because they have these thoughts of ‘that’s just for rich people.’ We can create a path of success for them. It’s a rewarding feeling.”

Day said, on average, the center sees about 500 people annually. Already in 2026, he’s seen 280 clients himself.

“We are a busy center. What’s weird is we’re the second-smallest center in the state Louisiana, but we produce the most results. The reason for that is because we are actively out here in the public educating people and telling them what we do. We’re spreading the word.”