The City of Asheville's Business Inclusion Office will begin offer a training program known as the "AVL Pathways to Grow" course to interested businesses later in 2021. The training program is specifically intended to help minority- and woman-owned small businesses (MWBEs) to grow and develop their businesses.
The program, developed by Interise, a nonprofit supporting small businesses, has already been offered in more than 80 cities across the country. According to the City's press release, businesses that participate in the training program "grow their revenues by 36%, create new jobs at four times the regular rate of the private sector, and obtain $2.4 million in new contracts" (on average).
The classes in the training program meet on a biweekly basis for a seven-month period. Topics covered will include financial management, marketing and human resources practices, getting access to capital, understanding contracts, and more. Businesses eligible for the training program must have at least $150,00 in annual revenue, been in basis for at least two years, and have one other full-time employee besides the owner or owners, among other requirements related to being able to participate in the class.
"One of the City Council's priorities is a thriving local economy, and that cannot be achieved without building our women and BIPOC businesses," said Mayor Esther Manheimer in the City's press release.
Applications for the program are due by October 15th, 2021, and may be found at https://programs.interise.org/asheville/.
Read the press release from the City of Asheville (complete with links for registering for informational sessions about the program, and application link for the program itself) at https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/city-of-ashevilles-business-inclusion-office-launches-avl-pathways-to-grow-training-program/.
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