More Entrepreneurs to Benefit from GROW Nebraska’s Business Training and Guidance Thanks to SBA Grant
OMAHA - Entrepreneurs and small businesses across Nebraska will get much-needed training and guidance in part thanks to a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
GROW Nebraska, a non-profit marketing and training program for entrepreneurs in Holbrook, Neb., will receive $75,000 under the Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs Act (PRIME) to assist low-income and very low-income entrepreneurs with training and technical assistance to start, operate, and grow their businesses. The non-profit program will use grant funds to help defray membership fees to expand eligibility for its services, and also will offer a series of upcoming social media workshops in Hebron, North Platte, Scottsbluff and Sidney.
In early October, the SBA announced that 58 non-profit organizations from 32 states, including Nebraska, will receive grants following a highly competitive process; the SBA fielded more than 400 applications this year for grant funding through PRIME.
“We plan on expanding our retail store training center in Kearney and Grand Island,” said Janell Anderson Ehrke, the CEO of GROW Nebraska, “and we see the potential for growth for training in e-commerce, an affordable way to produce viable businesses.”
GROW Nebraska is a statewide 501(c)3 non-profit firm and the only market access program in the state. The organization has provided services to entrepreneurs since it was developed in 1998 by the Central Plains Foundation, and seeks to create sustainable economic development by supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses through promotion, market access and education.
“We’ve found a key element is a lack of access to markets for the entrepreneurs we help due to the rural nature of our state,” Ehrke said, adding many of GROW Nebraska’s female clients are isolated from capital or other resources for business advice. Through more than $100,000 in loans provided through the Rural Enterprise Assistance Project, GROW Nebraska has offered technical assistance, training and access to capital to help women establish and generate business to increase their economic stability.
“One business hopes to get 6,000 followers on Twitter, another 2,000 fans on Facebook and 50 subscribers on their blog by Dec. 31 to help spread the word about their business,” said Heidi High, development coordinator for GROW Nebraska.
In fiscal year 2010, GROW expects to serve 450 clients, three-fourths of which will qualify as disadvantaged microentrepreneurs, a category defined as low-income, very low income, minority, women, or rurally isolated. Of their clients receiving ten hours or more of training and technical assistance in the past year, more than 70 percent were women, nearly a quarter are categorized as low-income, and almost eight percent were ethnic minorities.
“We are opening the doors for entrepreneurs to see there is a wide world out there,” High said. “With the advances of technology, these rural businesses will be able to increase their service area and attract more customers which will mean more exposure and sales for them.”
For more information regarding SBA, please visit: www.sba.gov/ne
