|
|
|
| home > innovation center > entrepreneurship > training > operation jump start | ||
|
||
|
Operation Jump-Start The Steps to Starting a Small Business Is it Possible That I Could Start My Own Business?
If you have ever had a business idea, then you've asked yourself those questions over and over. The entrepreneurial training program, Operation Jump-Start, is here to help guide you through the business development process and further assist you with the possibility of obtaining grant funding to help get your business started. Operation Jump-Start is a training program offering a 12-session, comprehensive course using the curriculum First Step FastTrac, designed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and used in the Operation Jump-Start course. The program is designed for persons who are in the low-to moderate-income range and who are starting or expanding a small business. Before you quit your job or invest your life savings, you will discover whether the life of an entrepreneur is right for you. Upon successful completion of Operation Jump-Start requirements, participants may apply for grant funding to assist with approved expenses. The course gives participants the opportunity to evaluate and test ideas in a safe and supportive environment. This comprehensive course includes development of the business concept, market analysis, pricing and cash flow and many other areas critical to business success. The program has been successful because: 1) the instructors are highly qualified 2) the curriculum is nationally recognized 3) the course is taught at a pace that makes the components easy to understand 4) all class participants have access to on-going support and counseling from the Small Business Development Center and 5) Southeast Missouri State Universitty encourages and supports the entrepreneurial program. "Southeast Missouri State University is the number-one presenter of the Kauffman curriculum in all of rural America," according to Dorothy Browning, national curricula manager, First Step Fund. Browning goes on to say that she used Bill Vickery, director of entrepreneurship at the Innovation Center, as a role model when she is speaking to others about the impact of curriculum. First Step FastTrac was selected by the Innovation Center because of its outstanding record of accomplishment. In 1998, First Step FastTrac won the Small Business Administration's Model of Excellence Award for Entrepreneurial Education. Simply put, First Step FastTrac is one of America's leading entrepreneurial training programs and remains on the cutting edge by providing programs written by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. To date, 31 Operation Jump-Start classes have been completed since January 2006. In additional to the regular sessions, in 2007, the classes were expanded into three additional markets--The SE Apprentice program, which was taught specifically to the University's student population; the Entrepreneurship in Horticulture and Alternative Agriculture class; and the classes for only St. Louis area veterans. In the Summer of 2008, the program received funding also to expand the classes, but this time, it was outside of Southeast Missouri. Operation Jump-Start was well-received in both Southern Illinois and Northern Tennessee. The course goals were to: 1) Graduate at least 80 percent of the original class participants 2) Award funding to the most viable business plans submitted 3) Create more jobs in the region The results are staggaring: 1) 553 (or 93%) completed participants 2) 150 businesses have been awarded start-up grant funding 3) 180 businesses started or expanded after completing the 6-week program* 4) 300 jobs have been created in the tri-state region Please read about our entrepreneurial success stories. These are a sampling of actual class participants who have opened or expanded their businesses after receiving the small business start-up grants. Serving 24 Counties throughout Southeast Missouri
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
Southeast Innovation Center
One University Plaza, MS 0130, Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63701 (573) 651-2940 • 920 Broadway • gharper@semo.edu Page 10276, © 2010 Southeast Missouri State University • published 2/25/2010 • disclaimer |
