Small Businesses
Starting or growing a small business in Wood County comes with more backup than most rural counties can offer. The county sits within the seven-county service area of the Tyler Small Business Development Center (Tyler SBDC), hosted by Tyler Junior College in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, which provides free, confidential one-on-one consulting and affordable training on everything from writing a first business plan to securing an SBA loan or preparing for expansion. East Texas SCORE offers a second layer of free mentorship from experienced business owners and executives, available in person, by phone, or by email.
HUB Program
For businesses owned by women, minorities, or service-disabled veterans, the state's Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program opens the door to state contracting opportunities. And locally, the WCEDC offers its own set of tools: a Business Needs Assessment Survey to help the commission understand and respond to what local businesses actually need, a GIS-based site selection tool for evaluating available commercial properties across the county, and direct connections to each city's Chamber of Commerce for hands-on, on-the-ground support.