Small Business Empowerment Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800563561
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3146210816
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,228,294
Expenses
$3,567,171
Assets
$1,622,330
Liabilities
$350,039

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Kevin Wilson (Program Director): $247,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Small Business Empowerment Center (SBEC) is uniquely qualified to assist small businesses in the distressed areas of St. Louis County and St. Louis City. For 15 years the SBEC has worked in the Empowerment Zone (EZ) to help residents and entrepreneurs start and grow businesses in the urban core.

What it reported doing in 2025

SBEC Program is designed to deliver up-to-date counseling, training and technical assistance in all aspects of small business management. SBEC services include, but are not limited to, assisting small businesses with financial, marketing, organization, and technical problems and feasibility studies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.9% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $247K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $750K reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.