Helping Washington Businesses Grow and Succeed!

The Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce has partnered to bring you a Monthly dedicated Technical Assistance Open House event. Want to start a business? Want to grow your business? Need consultation? Look no further than this one-stop-shop for all of your Business Development needs. With diverse partners of leading industry experts and resources, we are here to help you tackle any challenge to make your business thrive!

This is a drop-in event from 10am to 2pm. Registration is encouraged. 

Featured Partners: 

• Small Business Development Center with Rich Shockley
• City of Tukwila with Derek Speck and Brandon Miles - Economic Development Team
• Labor & Industries with Leoh Zermeno 
• Explore Seattle Southside
• Business Impact NW with Susan Perreault, VP of Programs
• Chase Mobile Notary with Eden Chase
• All Seattle Web Design with Dwayn Fricke
• Westfield Southcenter with Navdeep Singh
• Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce with Annie McGrath, Sammie Le & Morgan Young 
• vCTO Secure with Melisa Hahn
• Chase Bank with Walter Acuna 
• Growing Contigo with Jose Manuel Vasquez
• International Rescue Committee with Lauren Nicolas

About the SBDC: is a network of more than 30 expert business advisors working in communities across the state to help entrepreneurs or small business owners start, grow or buy/sell a business.

SBDC advisors provide one-on-one, confidential, no-cost advising on all phases of small business development and are often co-located with economic development specialists in community colleges, economic development agencies or government agencies. Other services of the Washington SBDC include no-cost or low-cost workshops on a variety of business topics and customized market research services.

The Washington SBDC, a member of the national America's SBDC program, is governed by a cooperative agreement between Washington State University, which is the statewide host of the program, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

About Walter Acuna, Sr. Business Consultant Chase Bank: Walter is a Peruvian native who came to the states in 2002, with over 19 years of experience in Business Development and Relationship Management within diverse banking segments.

He is a Sr. Business Consultant for JPMorgan Chase Bank, where provides technical assistant to small businesses in a variety of topics such as accounting, access to capital, and marketing;
Prior to his current role, he was a Vice President and Sr. Business Lender at Craft3, where he managed successful economic development programs for the BIPOC communities as a mission driven commercial loan officer.

Walter's banking experience also included Commercial and Consumer Banking roles at Plaza Bank, Wachovia, Bank of America and Washington Mutual.
He attended Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego in Trujillo, Peru. He finished with a BS Electronic Engineering; he also holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management.
Walter lives in Auburn and has three daughters Aubrey, Grace and Isabelle. While enjoying many things about life in the northwest, his passions include traveling, watching movies, and playing the guitar.

About Chase Mobile Notary: Mobile notary services are done in person. I provide notary services both general and for real estate signing transactions. Eden Chase of Chase Mobile Notary LLC has completed thousands of real estate signings and renews her NSA Notary Signing Agent designation annually. Ink fingerprinting services are also available for employment and background screening purposes. These services will be provided in-person.

About All Seattle Web Design: The All Seattle Web Design team are small business website design and marketing specialists. We work hard to target our client?s web design needs, help them accomplish their goals, surpass their expectations and keep them in touch with their customer. Proudly Seattle? never outsourced.

About Explore Seattle Southside: Explore Seattle Southside is the official destination marketing organization for Seattle's Southside including the cities of SeaTac, Tukwila and Des Moines.

The organization is responsible for promoting the community as an attractive travel destination and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to live and work. The impact of travel strengthens the region’s economic position and provides opportunities for people in our community.

About Business Impact NW: Business Impact NW is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) dedicated to serving underbanked entrepreneurs. We provide coaching, classes, and access to capital to community small businesses, with an emphasis on working with traditionally underserved populations – entrepreneurial low/moderate income earners, women, BIPOC, veterans, immigrants or members of the LGBTQ+ community. We have been serving the community since 1997.
 
We promote long-term positive economic change through financial services, business advice, and training. We serve startups and existing businesses. We are dedicated to helping underserved entrepreneurs at every stage of their business growth. Our one-on-one business advising and classes are free or low-cost, and our lending guidelines are more flexible than traditional banks because of our community impact mission. 

About Westfield Southcenter: The center has adjusted general mall open hours for retailers – though many retailers, particularly outlets like grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and others, may keep different hours.

About Labor & Industries: The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) is a diverse state agency dedicated to the safety, health, and security of Washington's 3.3 million workers. We help employers meet safety and health standards, and we inspect workplaces when alerted to hazards.

As administrators of the state's workers' compensation system, we are similar to a large insurance company, providing medical and limited wage-replacement coverage to workers who suffer job-related injuries and illness. Our rules and enforcement programs also help ensure workers are paid what they are owed, that children's and teens' work hours are limited, and that consumers are protected from unsound building practices.

We serve customers in 19 offices throughout Washington and have approximately 2,800 skilled employees, including safety inspectors, claims specialists, nurses, researchers, accountants, labor experts, and support staff.

About vCTO Secure: With 50+ years combined experience vCTO Secure has been serving the Seattle and surrounding areas since 2011, Providing IT Support including technical helpdesk, cyber-security, and computer support, as well as consulting services with small to medium sized businesses. Our experience has allowed us to build and develop the infrastructure needed to keep our prices affordable and our clients up and running. It’s always been our goal to provide enterprise-level IT practices and solutions to the small business sector, with small business prices.

About Growing Contigo: Growing Contigo LLC was founded by José Manuel Vasquez, a local community leader and advocate for immigrant communities. Their mission is to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses owners by connecting them to culturally relevant tools, resources, and information. Growing Contigo serves BIPOC, Latino-owned and Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs and business owners. They help individuals start and grow their businesses through Business Management Coaching, walking alongside them as they navigate complex systems to go from surviving to thriving in this quickly changing economy. They help small businesses establish a strong online presence through Digital Marketing Services such as web development, SEO, social media management, and streamlining the end-customer’s online experience. 

About International Rescue Committee: Lauren Nicolas Card and Rosa Kombwa lead IRC programs in the greater Seattle area from their offices in SeaTac. IRC is dedicated to ensuring that new Americans have the tools and resources to protect and grow their economic well-being. Their goal is to remove barriers that small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs face. Whether it is a small business loan to someone without access to traditional lending sources due to a lack of credit history or assistance in creating a business plan, researching locations, or connecting with other business owners in the region, IRC is ready to help.