North Texas Small Business Development Center provides grants, training

By Basil Gist

Staff Writer

Business owners got a crash course on the dos and don’ts of hiring and retaining employees at Wednesday morning’s breakfast by PointBank, member FDIC.

Paula McCain of the North Texas Small Business Development Center gave some insight not only into her business, but also some HR advice during her presentation at the event.

“Our mission is to help start, sustain, grow and save family businesses,” McCain said.

The SBDC is funded through federal, state and regional grants and their host college is North Central Texas College.

“That’s why we provide all of our counseling, assistance and resources at no cost,” McCain said. “Technically you’ve already paid for it.”

The costless nature of the service, as well as their YouTube webinars, of which there are over 100, means missing Wednesday’s breakfast does not preclude one from getting the information McCain had to offer, much of which revolved around finding, hiring and retaining quality employees.

“Focus on the KSA: Knowledge, Skills and Ability [in job descriptions], don’t throw any touchy-feely things in there,” McCain said before providing an example. “Has to get along with others and bring doughnuts every other Monday.”

McCain spent some time on the importance of an accurate job description.

“If it’s not relevant, it should not be included in the job description; special requirements should be 100% relevant to the job,”

McCain said. “A lot of job descriptions for administrative personnel say, ‘must be able to lift 50 lbs.,’ Really? When are you lifting 50 lbs., and what are you lifting?”

She explained the best way to get quality employees is to accept referrals from current staff.

“Current employee referrals are the best you can get because they’re going to have to work with the friend they’re referring,”

McCain said. “They’re going to make sure he’s not someone who’s going to embarrass them.”

The presentation ended with McCain revealing that as of 2020, small businesses like the ones SBDC counsels made up 99.8% of all business in Texas.

“We meet business owners where they are, we try to help them grow and sustain,” McCain said. “We are here to educate.”

PPISD Superintendent Todd Southard will be the speaker at the next business breakfast on Aug. 24.