Ready, Set, Resources! (For the Entrepreneur)

So you are a budding entrepreneur and want to get started on that new business idea selling your widgets or providing that fantastic service.  Sweet!

Where do you go from here for help in starting that business or expanding your current business?

There are several organizations right here in the Twin Ports that are available to help you get started, with no fees involved.  The mission of all these organizations is to increase the economic vitality in our region.  They are funded through various partnerships and grants with federal, state, community, private sector and higher education entities.  Their interest is to support our regional economy by helping you start your business, expand your existing business, or help you keep your existing business running.

All of the organizations listed are here for the entrepreneur and work together to promote the economic stability and vitality of the region.

The UMD Center for Economic Development has provided business consulting services to entrepreneurs and business owners in northeast Minnesota as the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for over 25 years.  They are located in the Technology Village Building (above Pizza Luce) in downtown Duluth.  There are highly trained, qualified, professional business consultants to answer your questions on starting your business, or managing your existing business.  They offer workshops in Starting a Business in Minnesota, Writing a Business Plan, financial software such as QuickBooks, and all the Microsoft desktop productivity software. 

Your business plan will include everything from basic organization, to marketing, to financial projections backed by solid research. Consulting is conducted under a confidentiality agreement so nothing is revealed to others without your specific approval.

A business consultant will sit down with you one-on-one and listen to your business idea, provide objective insights and help with research to prepare a business plan. They also provide website analysis, search engine optimization, and software searches.

The CED also offers a business incubator program where an approved business startup will receive assistance including office space, consulting, use of office resources and daily management advice.

The Small Business Development Center in Superior, Wisconsin is a similar program that offers owners and managers of small businesses and entrepreneurs confidential, individual counseling services at no charge and low-cost training programs in a variety of business related areas including but, by far, not limited to: writing a business plan, buying or selling a business, marketing, accounting, managing personnel, and controlling costs.

Another economic development organization,  The Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, will help you with your business idea or expansion plans. There is help for an individual to take a business idea and transform it into a reality.  And after 20 years of serving entrepreneurs, they are pretty fluent at communicating with them.

Through their consulting and training programs, they help to focus that idea around  some  business fundamentals— like  creating  a  business  plan, understanding cash flows, and developing a sales strategy.  Through their loan programs, they may arrange financing to launch the business, purchase equipment, or inventory.  They can also talk about hopes, dreams, visions for the future, and the ups and downs of everyday business life.  

The NEEF also manages an SBA Women’s Business Center specifically for woman owned businesses, which coordinates many of the training opportunities and events sponsored by the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund.  Female NEF clients automatically become members, but membership is open to any women business person. 

Another NEEF program for existing businesses is The Greenstone Group which invests in the professional development of high-performing, high-potential entrepreneurs in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. A 10-year initiative of the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund, the Greenstone Group seeks to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and strengthen entrepreneurs through group-based learning, peer support and access to a variety of business services.  
 
The Area Partnership for Economic Expansion (APEX) is an entrepreneurial business development organization, led by top executives and senior managers form the region’s largest, most successful companies.  The experience and resources they command will drive your business forward with improved revenues, reduced costs and maximized use of existing capacity and assets.  AEX is a private sector resource.

One more organization run funded through federal and state dollars is the Minnesota Workforce Center.  Although not entrepreneurial based The Workforce Center can help you find a job, identify training opportunities and provide Starting a Business classes in partnership with the Center for Economic Development.

Also, there is a scholarship program  The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation has created a fund to help encourage the creation and retention of jobs in Duluth and Superior through a tuition assistance program designed to strengthen the management skills of those in small business.  Eligible candidates are small business entrepreneurs, family members and key employees in the Duluth superior area who have been in business for six months and who may potentially employ at least three full-time equivalent employees.  Financial assistance will cover up to 80 percent of tuition up to a maximum of $1,000.00 and is made co-payable to the institution and the recipient.