“We operate like a SWAT team — when a business comes to us, they’re matched with a primary advisor, but we also bring in specialists from our team and the university,” says NH SBDC State Director Liz Gray.

Experiential learning opportunities sometimes lead to internships and jobs

When Dover company Therapy Clean wanted to expand its plant-powered, cruelty-free cleaning products business, owners knew just where to turn: UNH.

Specifically, the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, housed here in Paul College, staffed by professionals and students to help Granite State businesses find success.

Therapy Clean was dealing with some challenges: sourcing raw materials, securing retail partnerships and financial planning. The NH SBDC helped with all of it — its staff even helped the business recruit a chief financial officer.

An added bonus? NH SBDC’s partnership with Voice Z, the University of New Hampshire’s student-run digital marketing agency. Voice Z students upped Therapy Clean’s digital game.

“We had spent over $100,000 on marketing, hiring firms that either did nothing for us or weren’t performing as we needed. We burned through a lot of resources, and then Voice Z came in,” says Anne Ruozzi, co-owner of the business. “They did a fantastic job analyzing our position from a third-party perspective and came up with clever ideas that these expensive marketing firms had not seen.”

NH SBDC, an outreach program of UNH’s Paul College in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the state of New Hampshire, connects businesses with specialized advisors and university resources. It’s funded in part by federal and state sources, but relies heavily on donor support, including gifts from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. In addition, in the last several years, more than 300 individual donors and Granite State businesses and organizations have given nearly $200,000 to support the center’s work.

“UNH’s state impact priority is about enhancing New Hampshire’s prosperity by supporting its people, communities and economy,” says NH SBDC State Director Liz Gray. “We see ourselves as a key contributor to that effort — especially when it comes to helping small businesses grow, creating opportunities for students to engage with local entrepreneurs and fostering partnerships that strengthen our downtowns and drive innovation across the state.”

In other words, it’s a win-win for businesses and for the university: small businesses get practical advice and solutions without paying thousands to hire consultants, and UNH students — both graduate and undergraduate — get the chance to tackle real-world business challenges and see real-world results.

This past spring, 12 NH SBDC clients collaborated with MBA students on capstone projects, while Voice Z students tackled a variety of projects, including a photo and film shoot for Mode Salon and Wellness in Manchester, a website build for Bennett Freedom Farm in Ossipee, a digital presence audit for New England Wildlife Control and the creation of AI-focused marketing workshops for NH SBDC.

As NH SBDC is about to celebrate its 41^st anniversary, here’s a look at some of (its) successes from last year:

“It was exciting to step into a business and represent an agency. We weren’t just students — we were acting as professionals, representing the school and our agency,” says Kayla Vine ’25, who worked on the Mode Salon photo and film shoot. “The client looked to us for guidance, asking, ‘What’s next?’ and we had to be adaptable while staying focused on their needs and our team’s workflow.”

Sofia Marston ’25 says working with Bennett Freedom Farm, a farm-to-table cottage food business, is particularly exciting because her team gets to build a website from scratch.

“They’ve asked for a rustic look, but have otherwise given us a lot of creative freedom,” Marston says. “We’re also working on logos and branding for the website. We take it day-by-day, page-by-page, and we’re in consistent communication with the client.”

“Many small businesses struggle to prioritize or afford digital marketing initiatives,” says UNH Assistant Professor of Marketing Alex LaBrecque, Voice Z faculty advisor. “Often, their focus is on running day-to-day operations and ensuring smooth business functions, leaving little time or budget for activities like website optimization, SEO or social media management.”

Ayrika West, who graduated from UNH Paul College in 2024, recalls how she helped optimize Therapy Clean’s Amazon listings, identifying missing key details in product descriptions.

Using data-driven analysis, the team provided insights on how improving the listing could boost click-through rates and revenue.

“Amazon is a huge source of income for our company, and after spending a ton of money on other marketing firms, these students were the ones who noticed inconsistencies in our A+ marketing content,” Ruozzi says.

Gray says the relationship with UNH, which spans four decades, has been mutually beneficial, for both the state’s businesses and industry sectors, and for UNH students. “I’m excited when we have the opportunity to invest some of our funding back into Paul College programs and the community to help further the university’s mission of providing more experiential learning opportunities for students and connecting them with businesses.”