The University of California, Merced Small Business Development Center (UCM-SBDC) Program, hosted by UC Merced provides assistance to businesses in Central California that are located in the following fifteen counties: Fresno, Madera, Kern, Inyo, Mono, Tulare, Kings, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, part of Monterey and Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Mariposa. The network covers an extremely large geographic area of 51,000 square miles.

There are two distinct sections in Central California: the San Joaquin Valley that’s located between Sierra Nevada Mountains, Tehachapi Mountains and the Central Coast region. The Service Centers are hosted by California State University are: CSU-Fresno, CSU-Bakersfield, CSU-Monterey Bay and Cal Poly. The one non-profit is The Alliance in Modesto. The SBDC Service Centers utilize both employees and sub-contractors as Business Consultants for client consulting and training. Business assistance is also available online through the UCM-SBDC website and individual Service Center websites.

The UCM-SBDC Program a nationally accredited program and is one of six regional SBDC programs in California. The six regional California SBDCs work in partnership on issues involving the state of California.

We are very fortunate to having outstanding host institutions as partners to provide innovative solutions and sounds business assistance throughout Central California. A goal is to help aspiring entrepreneurs turn their ideas into businesses, to help small businesses expand and to provide the information necessary to help make sustainable business decisions.

Host Institutions & Partners