Business Outreach Program

The Business Outreach Program (BOP) at Portland State University provides technical assistance and business consulting services to locally owned, small businesses, with a focus on emerging, minority, and women-owned enterprises.

The BOP was created to meet the needs of small businesses by assisting entrepreneurs in improving their profitability and survivability, while at the same time, allowing PSU students to engage in community-based learning with first-hand business consulting experience.

The Business Outreach Program (BOP) was founded in 1994 by Dean Roger Ahlbrandt and Professor Alan Zeiber with a vision of providing management assistance to emerging businesses. Since the inception of the BOP at Portland State University the BOP has been assisting low to moderate income, primarily minority and women-owned small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs within the Portland city limits.  In conjunction with providing services to business owners; the BOP provides Portland State University (PSU) students with a unique opportunity to engage in community-based learning with local small businesses and service providers.