Bellevue is committed to helping businesses thrive here. Whether entrepreneurs, small businesses or medium to large corporations, Bellevue works with local and regional agencies to serve the business community's needs. Services are targeted for small business start-up, retention and growth, and financing.
Businesses on the rise downtown
Several partner agencies provide assistance, for both businesses starting up and those already established. Working together with small business owners and lenders, they can help solve operational and organizational problems or provide expert advice on how to grow and sustain business success.
Assistance for Entrepreneurs
Bellevue is an exceptional area for enterprises in the software, digital media and international trade sectors. In 2008, Fortune Small Business Magazine rated Bellevue the best place to "live and launch" a new business.
Northwest Entrepreneur Network: the premier local resource for networking, education, think tanks, visibility, assessing opportunities and access to the angel capital or venture capital communities. NW Entrepreneur Network maintains an extensive professional network directory.
Bellevue Entrepreneur Center: a division of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce that provides counseling and resources for small and start-up businesses in Bellevue and elsewhere on the Eastside. BEC provides the counseling, education, mentoring, connections and consulting resources, as well as small or micro loans for women-owned, minority-owned and other underserved businesses. In some cases, student teams from local colleges undertake projects for client businesses under the supervision of faculty and BEC staff. For more information or to schedule an introductory assessment, contact Kim Fredericks (425-213-1211 or kfredericks@bellevuechamber.org). Video about BEC
Assistance for Small Businesses
The following partner agencies can help solve operational and organizational problems or provide expert advice on how to grow and sustain success. The agencies can help businesses that want to update the way they identify and reach their customers or shift strategic goals to adjust to changes in the economy. In some cases, assistance can be tailored to the size or specific line of business, or it may be focused on a specific business need, such as business plan development, measuring marketing effectiveness, cash flow analysis, negotiation of leases or relocation.
Washington Small Business Development Center: The Small Business Development Center offers asssistance for small businesses plus specialized services for rapid growth and emerging technology companies, and certification and government contracting of small disadvantaged businesses.
Small Business Administration: Federal program that fosters small business success, including support for international trade. In addition to its other information resources and programs, the Small Business Administration offers free, individual counseling a few days each month through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). SCORE volunteers can be found at the Bellevue Regional Library.
Community Capital Development: Provides free, one-on-one business counseling, mentoring and plan development. CCD tailors assistance to the business owner’s individual needs and makes referrals to the Small Business Administration or outside experts as appropriate. Programs under the CCD umbrella include the Small Business Administration programs and the Women’s Business Centers. Consulting or training topics may be tailored to restaurants, small groceries, specialty stores or other types of businesses. Services may include business plan development, cash flow analysis, negotiation of leases, planning for business relocation and other special topics. In some cases, CCD offers workshops based on popular topics that can help improve businesses. There is a small fee for each class.
Classes are available at the following:
Assistance for Manufacturers
Washington Manufacturing Services: a nonprofit organization committed to helping make manufacturers in Washington more competitive. Through its affiliation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, WMS can link manufacturers with both local expertise and hard-to-access national resources.
Workforce Assistance for Businesses
WorkSource: can provide human resource assistance, help during layoffs and access to resources for business development, all free. WorkSource has locations in Redmond and Renton and at Bellevue Community College.
Loans and Financial Planning Help
Small businesses unable to obtain loans from conventional financing sources can try the alternative community development lenders listed below. Alternative lenders certified by the U.S. Treasury Department can work with privately managed loan capital, including that contributed by major banks, government or foundations.
Certified development companies are certified and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration. What distinguishes these programs is a greater reliance on the relationship between the program and borrower, more flexibility in the consideration of how collateral will be valued and a stronger knowledge of the character and business experience of the borrower.
Community Capital Development: Services include capital for cash flow restructuring, tenant improvements, real estate purchases associated with a new business location, inventory, receivables financing or working capital. If local banks can offer better loan terms, CCD helps to prepare application information and facilitate the referral. When a small business needs additional help, this fund can make loans from as little as $1,500 for things like signage improvements to loans of $250,000 for working capital or $2 million for real estate. Loans are subject to credit approval. Fees and interest rates are associated with the loans. All financial counseling and referral assistance is offered as a free and confidential service.
Washington CASH: provides training, financing and business coaches to support self-employment. Washington CASH services include business training course, microcredit lending services from $500 to $5,000, technical business assistance and peer support to enable low-income women (especially women currently dependent on public assistance), people with disabilities and new immigrants or refugees to start or expand self-employment ventures.
Evergreen Business Capital Program: specializes in packaging applications for SBA 504 loans, a long-term fixed-asset financing program. Projects eligible for loans applied for through Evergreen include land and/or building purchases, new building construction and/or building renovation, machinery and equipment purchase and leasehold improvements. Eligible businesses must have a net worth of less than $6 million and net earnings of less than $2 million (after taxes) on average for the last two years.
