A new collaboration aims to bring a series of boot camps for early-stage businesses to southeast Missouri, offering resources for new business owners and those starting their own.
Jakob Pallesen, director of the Missouri Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Southeast Missouri State University, said the workshops are designed for marketers to unlock their businesses and expand viable business models. He said they will offer practical and concrete approaches for new and potential businesses. owners, which requires the duration of the program.
“There are many things that are covered. We take a look at practices, at real-world examples, we bring in guest speakers from other fields to provide that qualified recommendation as well as the developed curriculum,” she said.
Pallesen will be one of the SBDC members who will teach the courses. She said she knows it can be intimidating to search for potential commercial homeowners to locate resources to help them, which is why the workshops help them make connections.
“We know the price of bringing together Americans who are all in this together,” he said.
James Stapleton, co-founder of Codefi, paved the way for the funding of this project. More than a year ago, Innovate SOMO, the emerging philanthropic group based in Stapleton, won a $2 million grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development with two main streams: supporting tech entrepreneurship systems and offering more resources to small businesses assisted through SBDCs in Southern Missouri.
The workshop program evolved through Missouri State University’s Missouri SBDC and was funded through Innovate SOMO, led through Codefi and the Missouri State Factory.
Each workshop teaches a different lesson. Areas covered include customer location and communication, trade credit, threat mitigation, and tax planning.
The Cap Girardeau sessions will last 8 Tuesdays, from August 27 to October 15, from 5:30 p. m. to 8:30 p. m. to 8 p. m. Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, 220 N. Fountain St. Sikeston workshops will be held from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. on Fridays, Aug. 30 and Sept. 6 at Centre Street Station, 10four E. Centre St.
Stapleton said other business boot camp events, both in-person and online, will be held in the state’s lower 47 counties, adding cities like Farmington, Poplar Bluff and West Plains.
“Hundreds and thousands of people will participate in this program in southern Missouri over the three years that this project will last,” he said.
Stapleton’s goal was to bring resources to others in places where they would otherwise be scarce or unavailable. Pallesen, for example, is the SBDC’s only representative in a 15-county area.
“I’m sure you think that doesn’t seem very feasible, and it isn’t. This is a challenge that several organizations in the region are looking to solve, to get more resources that can serve more small business owners or aspiring homeowners with small businesses,” Stapleton said.
There is no cost to attend the workshops, each consultation will only take about 25 people. Pallesen said those interested in attending can email jpallesen@semo. edu or make a stop at www. sbdc. missouri. edu/training.
Four more are planned in the Cape Girardeau region over the next two years.
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