COLBY — The Boots to Business Reboot workshop in Colby has been changed from September 22 to Saturday, September 29.
Boots to Business Reboot is a program offered through the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The program is delivered by the Wichita chapter of SCORE, a nonprofit organization that provides free business mentoring services to prospective and established small business owners.
Designed for Veterans of all eras and their spouses or children, including members of the National Guard, Boots to Business Reboot is a two-step entrepreneurial training program. The curriculum provides assistance to those interested in starting a business or exploring other self-employment opportunities. The course will present the key steps for evaluating business concepts and developing a business plan. In addition, participants are introduced to resources available to them from the Small Business Administration, including start-up capital, technical assistance and contracting opportunities.
Veterans are nearly 45% more likely to be self-employed than non-veterans. Nearly 2.4 million, or one in ten, small businesses are veteran-owned.
The first step of the Boots to Business Reboot program is attending a one-day workshop covering the Introduction to Entrepreneurship. A successful workshop was held in Salina in August. Three more workshops are available in NW Kansas:
September 29 – COLBY – Thomas County Complex, 350 South Range Street
October 13 – HAYS – Sternberg Museum, 3000 Sternberg Drive
November 10 – PHILLIPSBURG – The Fischer Building, 205 F Street.
Workshops will start at 8:30 AM and end at 4:30 PM. Lunch will be served. They will be facilitated by SCORE representatives, in partnership with the SBA.
Step two, for those interested in continuing the process, is an eight-week online course titled Foundations of Entrepreneurship. Instruction for the on-line courses is by a consortium of professors and practitioners led by Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.
SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, with more than 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters. As a resource partner of the SBA, SCORE has helped more than 10 million entrepreneurs through mentoring, workshops and educational resources since 1964.
The workshops are supported by the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. There is no cost to attend, but reservations are required.
To register for a workshop, visit Wichita.score.org. Click on: Boots to Business and follow the registration link. For more information, call Wichita SCORE at 316-269-6273, or email them at [email protected].