DDSBC brings EntreGROW to area
The Davidson-Davie Community College Small Business Center is one of two Piedmont Regional recipients of the NC Idea Regional Impact ECOSYSTEM grant. The grant award will help fund a new initiative, EntreGROW. This program is designed to lead employers through the development of processes to enhance productivity, build teams, and have the mindset to work on their business, not in their business. The partnership includes VentureAsheboro, a business incubator. Dr. Jonathan Thill, Founder, says of his involvement with this initiative, “Being a small business owner in rural North Carolina can be a daunting, isolating experience, which makes developing an accelerator program like this extremely important for the economic growth and social mobility of rural communities across North Carolina. I’m proud of the role that VentureAsheboro is playing in this partnership and can’t thank our grant funder, the NC Idea Foundation, enough for their continued support. Small business economic development will play a vital role in the future of our rural economies, and I believe that affordable access to high-quality entrepreneurship education opportunities like this accelerator will pave the way towards economic prosperity with greater diversity and inclusion in our small business community.”
EntreGROW will not only be a business skills program but will give participants the opportunity to have a follow-up business coaching session. This follow-up aspect of the EntreGROW program will give business owners a foundation for implementing the skills learned in the eight-week sessions. Further individualized counseling may continue after this program through the Small Business Center.
EntreGROW will be online so that the programming can reach a broad audience. The goal of this regional impact initiative is to provide an accessible and affordable opportunity to a variety of business owners in the Triad. As the college’s coverage area includes Davidson and Davie counties, Venture Asheboro reaches Randolph county and surrounding areas.
Martha Larson, the Davidson-Davie Community College Small Business Center Director states, “I am so appreciative of the NC Idea Foundation for offering funds to further support small businesses. It is important to have a regional viewpoint in our commercial endeavors.”
Participants can look forward to professional content developed by ACTIONCoach Team Hauser located in Winston Salem. Jason Berry, Business Coach, “It is much more challenging to grow a business past 5 and 10 years than to start a new business. To accomplish this, an owner must be willing to grow personally, while also cultivating leadership in their organization. The EntreGROW program has been customized in collaboration with proven ActionCOACH methodology, to meet these businesses where they are, and educate owners on how to implement systems, significantly increase profit, attract the best team, and develop leaders to eventually run the business for them.”
The perfect candidate for this program is a business owner with four or more employees. The focus of this content is helping business owners to create streamlined operations that can eliminate many of the pressures of day-to-day operations. The goal is to help businesses not only be sustainable but to grow.
EntreGROW will be available in February. The series will be held online from February 2-March 23, Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Triad area businesses will apply at http://www.entregrow.org. This low-cost program will require an initial registration fee of $100. Upon completion, attendees will be refunded $75. We are seeking participants who are committed to investing their time into the entire eight-week series.
For more information about this initiative please contact Martha Larson, Director, Small Business Center at the Davidson-Davie Community College. 336.224.4557 or martha_larson@davidsondavie.edu. Visit www.davidsondavie.edu/small-business-center for other business education opportunities and information about the services provided by the Davidson-Davie Small Business Center.
Davidson-Davie Community College (DavidsonDavie.edu), which incorporated Davie County into its name in 2021, is a fully accredited, multi-campus college where students of all ages and backgrounds pursue academic and career-focused education in order to build successful futures. As one of 58 institutions within the North Carolina Community College System, Davidson-Davie offers 125 pathways in over 40 career fields, as well as affordable college-credit coursework to students who plan to transfer to four-year schools. With a mission to serve the changing needs of students competing in a global environment, Davidson-Davie is committed to quality education, innovative and equitable learning experiences, training, and support across a wide range of 21st-century career fields.
