Looking for business advice? This new Puyallup office offers no-cost help

An organization that offers no-cost, confidential business advice to both existing businesses and start-ups has opened an office in Puyallup.

The Washington Small Business Development Center (WSBDC) is a network of business advisers that helps create informed business owners and sustainable businesses.

“What we do is advise businesses, both existing businesses and start-ups, on any problem or opportunity they may have related to the five functional areas of business, which are operations, marketing, financial, human resources and general business organization and planning,” SBDC business adviser John Rodenberg said.

Rodenberg works out of the new office at 400 E. Pioneer, Suite 103, in Puyallup and has more than 35 years of experience working with both small businesses and major corporations.

The Puyallup branch opened after a report conducted by WSBDC showed that the majority of Pierce County clients were outside of Tacoma, where the only other office in the county was located.

“We ran some demographics on our clients and not a lot of them were in urban Tacoma,” Rodenberg said. “By not a lot, I mean less than half.”

The WSBDC network includes nearly 30 business advisers working in 20 communities across the state. Each adviser works with approximately 100 clients every year in areas of retail, wholesale, transportation, manufacturing, arts and entertainment, food service and more.

Puyallup stuck out for a new location, Rodenberg said. South Hill is experiencing growth and many retail opportunities — specifically along S. Meridian from 112th Street to 176th Street.

“There’s just a lot of franchises going into both those locations ... (South Hill) has high population and households with fairly high household income,” he said.

“There’s a lot of industrial (businesses) on South Hill, and there’s going to be more with the development between Puyallup and Sumner off of East Main and off of Pioneer,” Rodenberg added.

Co-owner of Rainier Family Physical Therapy Susan Jankelson sought help from SBDC's Tacoma office in 2007, before she opened up the clinic at 18710 Meridian E. in Puyallup with co-owner Kim Bisson.

"John gave us enough resources and guided us really well to make that decision (to open)," Jankelson said. "We’re still in business 10 years later because of the guidance we had with everything, from 'Is this doable?' to 'Would this be a good location?' There was no stone unturned before we made the decision."

Rodenberg has been the business adviser for the Tacoma WSBDC office since 2004 on the Bates Technical College campus, 1101 S. Yakima Ave. So far, members of the local business community say the Puyallup office is more accessible.

“People say, ‘I probably wouldn’t have come to Tacoma, but I’m glad to come down to Puyallup — it’s just much more accessible,’” Rodenberg said.

For more information, visit wsbdc.org or call Rodenberg at 253-680-7768.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Looking for business advice? This new Puyallup office offers no-cost help."