The BIG Idea Business Boot Camp
Tuesday April 12, 2011
Kentucky Highlands accepting applications for entrepreneurial training
Free coaching, $10,000 in equity investment available
LONDON, Ky. - The Business Innovation & Growth Center at Kentucky Highlands announced today that it is accepting applications for The BIG Idea Business Boot Camp -- an intensive, five-month training and coaching program to help entrepreneurs and small business owners commercialize their ideas.
"Small businesses are driving the economy and job growth," said Jim Carroll, director of the Business Innovation & Growth Center. "The program will provide an intensive training and coaching that will position these entrepreneurs to succeed, and in turn, boost the local economy."
The deadline to apply is April 30, and the program will begin in late spring or early summer. Interested applicants can apply online at www.BIGcenter.org/bootcamp-application. A maximum of 10 applicants will be invited to participant.
Qualified participants who complete the Boot Camp will receive a business loan from
Kentucky Highlands, and selected participants will receive an invitation to make a pitch for a $10,000 equity investment. Applications will be considered from anyone who has an idea that will create a new business or expand an existing business, but only a limited number will be selected.
Big Idea Business Boot Camp participants will receive:
• Four training sessions: Each session will last four to six hours, include homework and cover several topics: business models and plans; marketing plans; financial plans; and effective presentations.
• One-on-one coaching sessions: These sessions will focus on participant-specific ideas and issues to help complete homework assignments and develop success strategies. The coaches are Carroll and Todd Fisher, both entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses and have executive management experience with Fortune 500 companies;
• Participation in a communitywide event: This event will showcase the participant's products and services to a wide audience of business and civic leaders in the community as well as investors and potential customers; and
• Financial investment: All successful and qualified graduates will receive a $500 loan from Kentucky Highlands, three months free space rental at the Business Innovation and Growth Center, and selected, qualified graduates will have the opportunity to make a pitch to receive a $10,000 equity investment from KHIC's Business Innovation and Growth Seed Fund.
Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, founded in 1968 to stimulate economic growth in nine counties in Southern and Eastern Kentucky, now serves 22 counties in the region and has created more than 10,000 jobs.
KHIC's Business Innovation & Growth Center, which is the first LEED-certified business accelerator in the region, includes 9,600 square feet of product development, office and laboratory space for area entrepreneurs.