Original article published in the Idaho Business Review
Well well well, what have we here?
Ready or not, it’s another New Year!
As we roll forward, fumble, or sprint –
Reviewing the past; oh! how it went.
Although, we all know, the past can’t be changed,
Lessons and tools can be rearranged.
Fill up your lungs – breathe in life to your vision
Some moments, so sloppy, and some with precision.
The spark of idea craves kindling to catch
Lifelong ambitions, awaiting their hatch
We could not be more excited by all that is unfolding at the Idaho Women’s Business Center (IWBC).
The New Year brings with it an explosion of aggressive initiatives to put our Small Business Administration (and vital partnering businesses’) money where YOUR entrepreneurial mouth is.
During the past several months, we’ve been scheming and dreaming of a packaged training curriculum that can reach women entrepreneurs and small business owners in every community, statewide, where businesses currently exist and where, quite frankly, they are HUNGRY to exist.
As I often say, an idea is worthless if there is no action behind it. And our ideas at the IWBC not only require steady, specific and swift action, but they have also required that we build our own vehicles to drive the concepts into production.
What was recently announced as our Rural Growth Initiative now has a concrete focus laid out with a directive created by Diane Bevan, executive director of the Idaho Women’s Business Center, and is now: “Rural Growth Initiative 44 X 22 – “Bringing Small Business Education into All 44 Idaho Counties by 2022.”
“How?” you ask.
Three simple (because the word “simple” is more catchy in an article than “very, very complex, yet vital assembly of many moving parts and cooperation from essential ongoing partnerships”) steps.
Step One: Content Creation
We’ve created a laundry list of tasks and tools that are necessary for someone to enter the entrepreneurial space or boost their current business model’s sustainability. We’ve put our heads together and worked in conjunction with industry experts to fine-tune
Step Two: Forging Relationships with Experts Statewide
We can’t do this alone. Idaho is jam-packed with exceptional businessmen and women who are eager to rally around fresh business owners in mentorship. Not only do these allies assist us by adding their wisdom to assemble unparalleled programming, but they also help us to connect to additional strong resources throughout the state.
Step Three: The Roll-out
Our calendar has already been bustling with activity for events ranging from marketing/social media/branding to financial training that helps small businesses prepare themselves to be “bankable” when the time comes to guiding absolute beginners through the first steps of creating a solid business plan.
You see the ante up there? Look up! Even higher! Yeah, up there. That’s where our ante has been WAY upped to. It’s an Immersive Business Building Experience called Connect the Dots, presented by the Idaho Women’s Business Center and hosted at JUMP in downtown Boise.
We’ll be providing a full day of education, interactive networking opportunities and creative inspiration for small business owners while they enjoy being a part of our live audience as we video capture these training sessions for our signature package of business lessons that can be delivered to any entrepreneur who needs it, in any community.
Join us on Feb. 22, 2020 to be part of the “Connect the Dots” business conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Once this content is created, we’ll maximize our partnerships with business leaders, chambers of commerce and more to ensure professional delivery of these tools.
We’ll be in every county in Idaho, either in person or virtually, and we are ready to serve.
Join us!
Megan Bryant is the director of the Idaho Women’s Business Center.
