“BUSINESS EXTENSION” PROGRAM: UNION OF EFFORTS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF SMALL BUSINESSESS

Abstract

The pressure for different and innovative products, allied with an environment that gets more complex and dynamic each day, places businesses, especially the small ones, in a position where they need more and more assistance and support from universities and government for maintenance, development and the growth of their activities. Thus, with the goal of emphasizing the relationship between universities, businesses and government, characteristic to the aforementioned situation, the present work aims to present the Business Extension Program, of the government of the State of RS, as an instrument of cooperation, a characteristic of Etzkowitz’s enterprising-university stage, as well as its ‘Triple Helix’ model. By analyzing the Business Extension management case, of the central region of RS, using Etzkowitz’s perspective, through the documental analysis and direct observation, both of which are qualitative research, the conclusion reached was that the referred program fits in the referred author’s model. Not only it is an important agent of integration between the referred agents, it is also an important instrument of assistance and support for small businesses of RS. The evolution of the concept of university, actually seen as the ‘enterprising university’, is also realized, since the studied program is managed and sustained by a university of the region.