University of Texas at San Antonio/Universidad Veracruzana
Country:
Mexico
Award Date:
2006
Award Amount:
$299,871.00
Cost Share:
$464,713.00
Other Partners:
Asociación Mexicana de Centros Para el Desarrollo de la Pequeña Empresa
The UTSA-UV partnership is growing a sustainable network of over 100 Mexican Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) whose mission would be to help small and micro entrepreneurs start businesses, create jobs, increase sales and improve the overall competitiveness of the Mexican economy. The project engages and expands the economic development capacity of institutions of higher education throughout Mexico via the SBDC program through leveraging existing human capital and infrastructural resources of Mexican institutions with financial support from all levels of government. The partnership is (1) creating bilateral trade opportunities via a web-based trade platform; (2) developing a set of SBDC accreditation standards; (3) building a sustainable Mexican SBDC network in Mexico; and (4) funding six master degrees with service learning internships to create a new cadre of Mexican SBDC leaders.