Business Assistance Specialist

Wilkes University invites applicants for a Business Assistance Specialist for the Historically Disadvantaged Business Assistance Program (HDBA), a new program offered by the Small Business Development Center. This program is funded by a grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The HDBA program will offer no-cost consulting services to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners who meet eligibility requirements in our service area of Carbon, Columbia, Luzerne, Schuylkill and Sullivan counties. Employment is contingent upon the availability of grant funds. While this position is funded through September 2027, there is potential for renewal beyond the initial funding cycle.

The successful candidate will be responsible for assisting start-up businesses with licensing and registration, personal readiness, financial readiness, customer discovery, feasibility, and research, and assisting existing business owners with the early steps to growth services to include, but not limited to bookkeeping, loan preparation, social media marketing guidance, government contracting and other areas.

A Bachelors degree in Business or a related field is required. The ideal candidate will have 1-2 years prior professional experience, fluent in English and Spanish, and have a working knowledge of QuickBooks.

Wilkes University is an independent, comprehensive university dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts, sciences, and selected professional programs. The University has approximately 2,000 students at the undergraduate level and over 1,500 full time equivalent students at the graduate and first professional levels.

Its institutional focus is on developing strong mentoring relationships with each of its students and contributing vitally to economic development of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The University is located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a revitalized city that is located on the lovely Susquehanna River and is within two and one-half hours driving distance of New York City and Philadelphia.

To apply, visit https://wilkesuniversitycareers.applicantpro.com/jobs/. Please be sure to include a cover letter, resume or curriculum vitae and three references.

Wilkes University is constantly seeking to become a more diverse community and to enhance its capacity to value and capitalize on the cultural richness that diversity brings. The University strongly encourages applications from persons with diverse backgrounds. Wilkes University does not discriminate in its employment practices or in its educational programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, sex/gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, marital or family status, military or veteran status, or genetic information.

Employment at Wilkes is contingent upon the results of a thorough background screening. PA Act 153 requires that persons working in positions with regular and unsupervised contact with minors complete additional clearances, including FBI fingerprinting and PA criminal and child abuse clearances.