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State introduces new program to aid small businesses

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economic-forecast-headerThe Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, in partnership with Interise, introduces New Virginia Scaling4Growth, a program to assist Virginia’s established small businesses in achieving growth and reaching their next level of success.

Virginia is inherently entrepreneurial and has a long history of achieving job growth through locally-owned small businesses, as 95% of Virginia’s businesses are categorized as “small.”

New Virginia Scaling4Growth, an innovative, seven-month program, will provide business owners with the knowledge, tools and connections to help them grow their businesses and create jobs.  Designed to maintain sustainability, New Virginia Scaling4Growth will assist small business owners develop three-year Strategic Growth Action Plans™, a customized guide for reaching new business goals.

“Executive education is the key differentiator for businesses experiencing exponential growth.  Most small businesses never have the chance to take the time out to participate in ongoing education, especially at no cost.  This is the Commonwealth’s investment in a partnership to grow small businesses through development opportunities,” states the Agency Director, Tracey G. Wiley.

Delivered in an interactive and engaging format that includes peer-to-peer CEO mentoring sessions, New Virginia Scaling4Growth will use the nationally-recognized, StreetWise ‘MBA’™ curriculum developed by Interise, a Boston-based nonprofit committed to helping underserved small businesses scale.

The comprehensive curriculum includes topics vital to small business success, including financial management, marketing and sales, human resources tactics, business strategy development, and access to new capital and contracts.

More than 4,000 promising small businesses across the country have completed Interise’s StreetWise ‘MBA’™ curriculum since it was first delivered in Boston a decade ago.  Through the curriculum, small business owners gain the tools and accountability necessary to grow  their  established small businesses, create jobs and revitalize local economies.  StreetWise ‘MBA’™ graduates reported revenue growth of nearly 40% last year. New Virginia Scaling4Growth initiative seeks to bring similar results to small businesses in Virginia.

“Interise is thrilled to partner with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity to build the capacity of growth-oriented, established small businesses across the Commonwealth. We commend SBSD’s commitment to enhance the participation of small, women- and minority-owned businesses in Virginia’s procurement opportunities”, said Jean Horstman, CEO of Interise.  “Interise is the go-to partner with a proven model for accelerating economic and small business growth. The more small, women- and minority-owned businesses have the capacity to compete and succeed on a regional, national, and global scale, the more their companies and communities become resilient.”  This is the first statewide partnership of its kind for Interise.

In order to participate, SWaM businesses must be located in Virginia, generate revenues between $250,000 and $10,000,000, have been in business for at least three years, and have at least one employee besides the owner.  Participants must also demonstrate a high level of commitment to complete the program.

New Virginia Scaling4Growth has a goal of supporting the growth of local small and disadvantaged-business enterprises (DBEs), including those owned by women, minorities, and service disabled veterans. However, disadvantaged-ownership is not a prerequisite for program participation.

To learn more about the New Virginia Scaling4Growth program,  an information session will be held Tuesday, October 4, 2016.

To sign up for the information session, email Telfon Logan at [email protected] by September 29. Space is limited.

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