For participating Wharton students, helping entrepreneurs develop business and marketing plans, overcome strategic challenges, or apply for bank financing was invaluable experience that could not be matched in the classroom. The program, serving 350 to 550 clients with one-to-one training annually and 500 or so more with workshops, according to the state, is a division of the Snider Research Center of Wharton Entrepreneurship. It receives a combined $500,000 a year — from the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration.