Pennsylvania SBDC EMAP Wins National EPA Honor for Assistance to Small Businesses
(PRWEB) May 10, 2016 -- The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)’s Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP) was awarded the Fiscal Year 2015 U.S. EPA Administrator's Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Small Business Trade or State Small Business Environmental Assistance Provider. The award was presented on May 5, 2016 during the U.S. EPA Administrator’s 26th Annual Small Business Program Awards Ceremony. The event recognized various program activities, individuals, businesses, and state and local entities for their outstanding contributions in Fiscal Year 2015.
“EMAP is honored to have received this prestigious national award from EPA, and we are so grateful for their support of our program,” said Nancy Crickman, director of environmental, technology, and energy services with the Pennsylvania SBDC. “I applaud our team of statewide staff for their efforts to help small businesses across Pennsylvania, they are truly deserving of this award for all of their hard work and dedication,” she added.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection provides funding to support EMAP in a longstanding partnership to provide environmental technical and compliance assistance to Pennsylvania small businesses, as required by the state Air Pollution Control Act and the federal Clean Air Act. EMAP provides valuable services to help small businesses in Pennsylvania come into compliance with environmental regulations, stay in compliance, and even go beyond compliance to become more sustainable.
In 2015, EMAP provided environmental consulting assistance to 278 businesses in 50 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. EMAP staff conducted on-site assessment visits at 39 of these businesses. A significant number of the businesses had complex and long unresolved issues that EMAP consultants were able to sort through to help the businesses thoroughly address their compliance issues. Since 2004, EMAP has provided environmental compliance assistance to over 2,645 small companies and conducted 1,262 onsite visits.
About Pennsylvania SBDC’s Environmental Management Assistance Program (EMAP)
EMAP is a specialized consulting service of the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) that provides free and confidential environmental compliance assistance to small businesses in Pennsylvania. EMAP environmental consultants help small businesses understand how to comply with regulatory requirements and assist with the preparation of plans and permit applications for start-up and existing businesses. Business owners who are interested in EMAP services should visit http://www.askemap.org or call the toll-free confidential hotline at (877) ASK-EMAP.
About Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
The Pennsylvania SBDC network is the only statewide, nationally accredited program that provides high quality one-on-one consulting, training and information resources to empower new and existing businesses. SBDC consultants work with entrepreneurs in confidential, individualized sessions to help them with a range of business issues including testing a new business proposition, shaping a business plan, investigating funding opportunities, and much more. The SBDC program is a public/private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania SBDC Lead Office is headquartered at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For more information on the Pennsylvania SBDC services and impact, please visit http://www.pasbdc.org.
###
Kelly Cofrancisco, Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), http://www.pasbdc.org, +1 (215) 746-6474, [email protected]
Share this article