Small businesses, big lessons: How UT San Antonio interns help entrepreneurs grow

Small businesses, big lessons: How UT San Antonio interns help entrepreneurs grow Weeks after her summer internship ended, UT San Antonio business student Tarasa Kelly met again with an entrepreneur she had worked with at the Small Business Development Center. The entrepreneur’s first U.S. shipment of organic fertilizer made from compressed sheep’s wool from Mongolia had just arrived, and she wanted Kelly to see the packaging. Tarasa KellyKelly noticed the bag’s QR code and suggested printing the key details and price at the top for shoppers who dislike or distrust QR codes. “Literally right then, she started writing on the packages,” Kelly said. Kelly’s instinct came from a summer working at the UT San Antonio Small Business Development Center (SBDC), part of the Valdez Institute for Economic Development (VIED). There, she put concepts from the classroom into practice, working alongside SBDC professionals to help entrepreneurs navigate real-world business challenges. The VIED is an economic development catalyst that promotes “economic, community and business development at the local, regional and national levels.” Its centers and programs serve a range of clients, from first-time entrepreneurs to experienced business owners looking to expand. The UTSA SBDC is the institute’s local support provider, nurturing small businesses in 11 counties, including Bexar County. This mission resonated with Kelly, a San Antonio native with plans to launch her own business. Real projects, real clients A total of five students interned this summer at the VIED. Four students participated through Students + Startups, a competitive paid internship program funded by the 80|20 Foundation, while Kelly was placed in the VIED as a part of her minor in entrepreneurship at the Carlos Alvarez College of Business. Richard Sifuentes, director of the UT San Antonio SBDC, has hosted student interns since 2018 and hopes to see the numbers grow in future years. Every intern has been paid, Sifuentes said, and students get something a classroom can’t offer. “It’s not just book smarts,” he said. “They have real projects that they’re working on, with tangible results.” The stakes are real, too. SBDCNet Director Matthew Jackson often reminds his interns that the clients are “real small business owners” who are often “putting their lives on the line, their life savings.” From political science to client meetings Andrew MayoAndrew Mayo was still a political science major when he began searching for internships last November through Students + Startups, but he wanted a field where he could help people directly and see the results firsthand. Now a business analytics major in the Alvarez College of Business, Mayo spent 10 weeks working full time, researching markets and competitors and, later, building financial projections like those required for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. His favorite project was for a client who wanted to open an after-school program. Mayo weighed the fast-growing but competitive Alamo Ranch area against the South Side, where childcare options are scarcer, but incomes are lower. Ultimately, he recommended the South Side, paired with school partnerships and other strategies to reduce costs for families. “It took my problem-solving skills to the next level,” he said. What surprised him most was how personal the work felt. “[The advisors] are not just treating clients like growth numbers, but like people, because that’s what it’s all about — building community,” Mayo said. A San Antonio native, Mayo aims to build a career in economic development, where he can continue to help his hometown thrive. A future founder learns to slow down Kelly, who will graduate in December with a business management degree, arrived with an idea. While caring for her late mother, she saw gaps in healthcare for older adults and twice performed CPR at home. The respite aides who visited had no such training. “I want to be able to bridge that gap,” she said. In her Enterprise Planning course, she is building a mobile CPR and first aid training business for campuses and senior communities, which she estimates would cost about $5,000 to start. The internship helped Kelly practice the specific, concrete steps that make an idea like that a reality — steps like regulatory research during the discovery phrase, which Kelly did for an international tennis and pickleball company. “All of those become real, tangible things when you’re working at the SBDC,” she said, referring to business school fundamentals, such as the business model canvas. “You actually get to see it in action.” For Kelly, the biggest lesson was not to rush. “The best thing about the SBDC is they slow you down or they move you forward,” Kelly said. Kelly is taking the advice on board for herself, starting with CPR training before a larger home health vision. “Dream big, but think realistically,” she added. Small but mighty Matthew Jackson (left) with his team at SBDCNet. Team members all started as student workers, student interns or part-time employeesKelly and Mayo are among a growing number of Americans drawn to small businesses for their vast potential for growth, innovation and community impact. Small businesses are a cornerstone of the national economy, employing about 62.3 million people, or 45.9% of the workforce and generating 65.9% of net new jobs, according to the SBA. Zooming in on the region, small businesses employ over five million Texans. The interns, Sifuentes said, help build the workforce to maintain this momentum. Whether they choose a career supporting small business development or decide to launch a business of their own, “they go on to do great things,” he added. Jackson noted that the interns often go on to work at organizations including USAA, Valero and EY, in addition to becoming founders and leaders. Another former intern, Matthew Espinoza, now directs Launch SA. For Jackson, it was his own internship at VIED that put him on the path toward leading the institute’s information clearinghouse that serves small businesses nationwide. Today every full-time member of Jackson’s team started out as a student intern, work-study student or part-timer. Jackson said he makes a point to recruit students from a variety of majors, not just business. “We’re dealing with small businesses that are working in all kinds of industries and spaces, and we need diverse perspectives, ideas and knowledge so that we put forth the best results for those small businesses at the end of the day,” he said.