The small staff of one of Iowa’s busiest Small Business Development Center offices didn’t advertise their move last month from the Drake University neighborhood to Urbandale. Despite that, businesses eager for assistance still found them, said its director, Sherry Shafer.

The center’s weekly Smart Start I program, for instance, attracts 30 to 35 attendees each Tuesday night at its new location. “The word-of-mouth is coming from other attendees, and that’s the best referral,” she said.

The office, which despite having fewer than four full-time-equivalent employees, last year fielded approximately 18,000 assistance calls and counseled more than 500 small businesses. It’s now located at the Iowa State Outreach Center, 10861 Douglas Ave.

Though Drake and the SBDCs are both interested in promoting entrepreneurism, the university’s focus is obviously more student-oriented, whereas the SBDC’s primary focus is on businesses, said Lars Peterson, associate state director for Iowa’s 13 Small Business Development Centers.

“It is very much still an amicable relationship,” said Peterson, who said he recently met with Charles Edwards, dean of Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration, to discuss ways the two organizations might continue to collaborate.

According to two studies released earlier this month, Iowa’s Small Business Development Center programs have a significant positive impact on state tax revenues. Businesses that received between three and five hours of SBDC counseling generated nearly $4 in tax receipts for every $1 spent on programming in their first full year after counseling, according to two independent studies conducted by Mississippi State University.

The studies also showed an increase in sales that totaled $39.4 million for medium-term clients that received three to five hours of counseling, and a $17 million increase in sales for long-term clients, businesses that received five or more hours of counseling.

Though people tend to think that the SBDCs only serve start-up companies, actually fewer than 40 percent of businesses assisted in Iowa are in that category, Peterson said.

“We also help with buying and selling businesses and franchising, and helping businesses grow,” he said. “We also specialize in turnarounds.”

The Small Business Development Center in Urbandale can be reached at 331-8954, or for more information, visit www.iowasbdc.org.