With a generous grant from the Vectren Foundation, and an additional targeted grant from Fifth Third Bank, the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville is in the position to provide scholarships to regional residents who have ideas that will lead to new business startups, and therefore support economic development and growth for our community.
The Growth Alliance will be providing 30 scholarships over the next 2 years (2014-2015) for the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac NewVenture program. Each scholarship has a value of $1,000.
The Kauffman Foundation develops and generously supports numerous efforts that provide entrepreneurs the knowledge, skills, and networks they need to start and grow businesses. More than 350,000 entrepreneurs have taken a Kauffman course to help start and grow their businesses. More information on Kauffman FastTrac and testimonials from program participants can be found at www.fasttrac.org.
The FastTrac New Venture program not only helps an entrepreneur uncover the answers, it also helps him/her determine the questions to ask. The program helps them save time and money by testing the feasibility of a business concept before launch. The materials developed by the Kauffman Foundation for FastTrac NewVenture help a budding entrepreneur consider all the factors that will impact success and provide step-by-step decision-making processes that minimize the risk of launch.
The course includes an introduction to available resources and sources of information that will aid entrepreneurs in planning and decision-making. Participants work through real world
examples in order to develop skills and gain the necessary knowledge. They then apply the newly acquired knowledge and skills to their own business concept, developing a plan.
The program is offered over a 10 week period, with one (1) three (3) hour session per week. The actual schedule of sessions will be developed with the scholarship recipients to best fit with current work and family obligations of the majority of recipients.
The Growth Alliance is accepting proposals from prospective scholarship recipients now through 5:00 PM Central Time on Friday, March 28, 2014.
To view the application and eligibility requirements, please visit the Growth Alliance website, http://www.growthallianceevv.com/.
