Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Illinois Small Business Development Center will not close March 31 as anticipated.
The center will remain open - at least temporarily - thanks to short-term federal funding. But, officials say without a state budget in place, the center will close after July 1.
SIU officials, working with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Small Business Administration, were able to secure sufficient federal "bridge" funding to keep the center open through June 30.
Due to the budget impasse in Springfield, SIU has not received any state funding since the fiscal year started on July 1. The impasse in turn has affected funding for the SBDC, which led university officials to announce recently that the center would close March 31, resulting in the loss of five full-time and four student employee jobs. The bridge funding will allow the center to continue operating through the end of the current fiscal year.
