Venture Point’s Future Hinges on State Funds
It was down to the wire last week for workers at Venture Point.
The tiny group that provides advice to sapling companies notified workers they could be furloughed if the state didn’t cough up $172,000 in reimbursement payments.
“We simply can’t carry the state forever,” said Stan Oftelie, chief executive of the Orange County Business Council, which hosts Venture Point. “It’s a very good program. There’s just an ongoing series of issues in the way the state handles its billing.”
Earlier this year, the state notified Venture Point that it will get less money to run its free advisory service. The business council recently inked a $650,000 contract with the state of California for 2003,$75,000 less than this year’s contract.
The state proposed giving Venture Point even less money,to the tune of $125,000.
Venture Point employs eight “coaches” and 50 volunteer executives who help “client” companies set goals, develop action plans and identify resources. The group initially was set up to target technology startups and is part of the Small Business Development Center program sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Orange County Technology Action Network,Octane for short,has proposed taking over Venture Point. But no decisions have been made yet. Octane is a tech group cofounded by Conexant Systems Inc. Chief Executive Dwight Decker.
,Andrew Simons
