Small Business Counselor

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 24 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.

The IRC’s Center for Financial Opportunity (CFO) helps newly arrived refugees and other low-income individuals reach self-sufficiency by finding entry-level employment and progress to living wage jobs, learn basic financial management skills and build assets, and start small businesses. The IRC's Center of Financial Opportunity hosts a Small Business Development Center, the IRC SBDC, helping small business owners and entrepreneurs prosper by delivering in-language and no-cost business assistance and access to loan products.

Job Overview:

The Small Business Counselor will support the continued development of the IRC Small Business Development Program through a hybrid role of administrative support and business counselling services including providing training and technical assistance to support CDBG and SBDC eligible San Diego County residents start or grow a small business.

Major Responsibilities:

• Support IRC SBDC staff with intake process through contacting clients, competing screening, and inputting information through SBDC CRM – Neoserra;
• Quality assurance and data management including running reports across multiple databases and reviewing of eligibility documents;
• Data entry in Neoserra, SalesForce, and ETO, as necessary, to log key outcomes such as milestones, scope of work, surveys, etc;
• Participate in monthly administrative committee meetings within the SBDC network;
• Assist in the outreach and recruitment of program participants; screen and assess interested City of San Diego residents for program eligibility and participation;
• Provide one-on-one business counseling and management assistance to new and existing San Diego county residents owned-businesses in all areas of business start-up and expansion;
• Assist entrepreneurs to become ready for business financing through preparation of loan applications, business plans, and financial statements;
• Underwrite and package loan applications, and present for review to the IRC’s CDFI;
• Conduct individual case management and loan collections, including "off-site" technical assistance visits to the businesses or homes of program participants;
• Proactively facilitate referrals to outside service providers as necessary to meet the diverse needs of the program participants;
• Assist participants accessing COVID-19 related funding such as grants and loans;
• Ensure that information required for program eligibility and reporting purposes is collected and that accurate records are maintained, including case files and client data entry across multiple data bases. Ensure necessary steps are taken to acquire relevant data in a timely fashion; follow-up with all clients regularly and record all contacts with case notes;
• Attend regularly scheduled meetings with other IRC staff and volunteers as part of the review, evaluation and program maintenance process;
• Assist in the planning and coordination of training activities and special events;
• Other duties as assigned.