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SIU Small Business Center on Chopping Block

Veeresh dandur
/
Facebook via Creative Commons

Officials at Southern Illinois University say its Small Business Development Center will have to close next month because the state doesn't have a budget. The center uses grant money from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help about 600 southern Illinois small businesses a year. The grant money hasn't been available since January, and the university has been funding it. Greg Bouhl is the center's director. He says the closing will be ``a big loss to the region.'' The center has six full-time staffers and several student workers. They will lose their jobs when the center closes March 31.