West Des Moines offering small-business classes
JOE GARDYASZ Jun 22, 2016 | 8:04 pm
<1 min read time
0 wordsAll Latest News, Economic Development, Retail and BusinessThe city of West Des Moines will launch a series of small-business courses for Central Iowa businesses beginning in July. The initiative is part of a new effort by the city’s economic development department to offer training to established small businesses in Central Iowa, said Clyde Evans, the city’s economic development director.
The four-part series of courses will be offered by Advance Iowa, a comprehensive business consulting program of the University of Northern Iowa. Known as the Boost series, the courses are designed to focus on key business development themes.
“We’ve worked with a few clients in the (Central Iowa) area before, but this will probably be our most concentrated effort, and we’re excited about that,” said Dan Beenken, director of Advance Iowa. The 4-year-old program, which is funded through a direct legislative appropriation to UNI as well as from client fees, last year served about 150 companies across the state.
Advance Iowa’s programs focus on one-on-one counseling for so-called Stage 2 companies that are past the startup stage and have between 10 and 100 employees. The course instructors include some UNI instructors as well as some former executives of midsize Iowa companies, Beenken said. “We’re utilizing those (former executives) the most because we feel they bring that peer-to-peer element in having grown a company,” he said.
Although the West Des Moines program is open to all Central Iowa businesses, West Des Moines companies will receive a discount on the program through a sponsorship by West Des Moines Economic Development and the Historic Valley Junction Foundation. The cost for West Des Moines businesses is $35 per course or $100 for the series; for businesses outside West Des Moines, the cost is $100 per course or $350 for the series.
The first course, “The Power of Customer Discovery,” will be held July 11, with subsequent courses to be held in each of the following three months. All of the courses will be held at the West Des Moines Business Incubator, 318 Fifth St.
“This is an excellent opportunity to get this kind of training at a significantly reduced price,” Evans said. “This is something we’re looking to do a lot more for businesses in the future.”
For more details about the classes and registration information, click here.
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