The Bronx Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Lehman College is providing business assistance at the new Operation Hope Center in Harlem.

Serving residents of Harlem, the Bronx and neighboring communities, the center is offering financial education as well as assistance to entrepreneurs. Services include banking and money management seminars, credit counseling, resume building, home and small business loan programs, and information on affordable housing.

Focusing on help for entrepreneurs, advisors from the SBDC will provide free business counseling in one-to-one sessions, as well as workshops covering marketing, access to capital and other areas.

The other partners in the new venture are the U.S. Small Business Administration; SCORE, a national organization made up of entrepreneurs and executives who volunteer their expertise to help small businesses in the early stages of their operations; and Operation HOPE, an international organization established to bring financial literacy and empowerment programs to low-wealth communities around the world.

"The SBDC and Operation Hope have a shared mission, the expansion of economic opportunity in underserved communities through economic education and empowerment," said Clarence Stanley, executive director of the Lehman SBDC. Since it was established at Lehman in January 2000, the SBDC has assisted over 5,500 clients with free confidential business counseling, resulting in the investment of approximately $58 million and the creation or retention of over 2,000 jobs.

The Operation Hope Center is located at 135th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd.

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