Lets think about this. Free business development program offered by the government. Has the government ever just offered anything for free that you really expect to get a great value out of.
The people that work in these offices are just looking to ride it out until retirement, do the minimum, and get you in and out in 30 minutes. They have no real contacts, they dont really offer any services that will help out a business, and they half ass it.
If its too good to be true, it is. You would be wasting your time by spending it thinking you would get some good advice, contacts, etc in these locations. It more like the government wants to spend tax dollars and offer 60k year salaries to people who have given up in their line of work, or they just were not good enough. Why else would someone work here? You could make 10x consulting on your own.
Ive visited two locations and have not been helped. Ive wasted a lot of time. My loan request was based on inventory which is harder than getting a traditional small business loan to open a subay. They have no real interest in helping my business past handing me a flyer and sending me to an awfully reviewed bank. What they should have done is look at my financials and help me present a package to a bank that they would be interested in, as the other consultants eventually did. Since they have no vested interest if I succeed or not, they are not willing to put the work in that you would expect(ie looking over financials, offering solid advice based on those financials). Which is really the reasons why they work here in the first place, for a quick and easy paycheck with minimal effort. It comes from the top down directors so you would expect all employees to follow in line.
If this seems unusually harsh, too bad because its very true and I want to save any future people from wasting their time here. read more