A new study said the “state of Iowa receives $11 back for every $1 invested” in the Iowa Small Business Development Center, an outreach program of Iowa State’s College of Business.

The study, conducted by the University of Calgary, showed that SBDC clients created 2,650 new jobs in Iowa, one of the best per-dollar returns of any state economic development program.

Companies that worked with the SBDC grew faster, made more profits and provided more state income and sales tax revenues than non-client businesses, according to the study.

“This is good news for Iowa,” said Ron Manning, state director of the SBDC. “It validates the positive economic impact of the SBDC on Iowa’s small businesses.” Manning is a 10-year employee of the center and a 1956 graduate of Iowa State.

“We provide counseling in all business divisions,” Manning said. “Sometimes we also help people start up their own businesses.”

Information provided by Manning indicated the center provided 17,228 hours of one-on-one counseling to 5,057 clients in 1996. The center helped start 720 new businesses last year. The study also said 39 percent of those businesses were female-owned.

In April 1997, the SBDC will sponsor INFOCOMM ’97, a conference that will continue the center’s quest to provide new information on current issues for Iowa business owners and managers.

The SBDC, headquartered in Ames at 137 Lynn Ave., was started 15 years ago with a grant from the federal government’s Small Business Administration. Its mission is to provide statewide help to businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

The Ames branch of the SBDC is located at the ISU Research Park. It has been involved in assisting technology-based businesses since its relocation in 1995.

The SBDC currently maintains offices at all three state regents’ universities and 13 community colleges across Iowa.

On Tues., Feb. 11, the center will offer a workshop on determining the dollar value of a business. The program, “What’s a Business Worth,” will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Marriot-DMACC Conference Center in Newton, Iowa.

Mark Tibergien, one of the nation’s leading teachers of business valuation principles, will be the featured speaker. The cost of the seminar is $95. If interested, contact the Iowa SBDC at (800) 373-7232.