Entrepreneurs Forever expanding outreach into Butler County
In the world of small business, it can be easy to feel isolated with the issues your business might be facing, but with Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Entrepreneurs Forever, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Entrepreneurs Forever a is peer group program designed for small business owners to share their experiences, learn from each other and solve problems that they collectively might be facing, and now, it’s available in Butler County.
“The program is only about putting peer groups together,” Tamara Abney, vice president of community relations and outreach with Entrepreneurs Forever, said. “Those who sign up can expect to be put in a group of 10 to 12 of their peers, which would be small business owners that have been in business at least a year and make between $30,000 and $1 million in revenue and work full time in their business.”
To introduce the program to Butler County, Entrepreneurs Forever, in partnership with the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, hosted an informational event on Thursday, May 30, at The Atrium in Prospect, where about 60 small business owners from the county gathered to learn more about the program.
“The reason why we brought it to Butler is we were provided a community projects grant through the office of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey through the Small Business Administration to provide 300 seats in our peer groups across Western Pennsylvania,” Abney said. “We usually do not charge the business owners. We actively look for funding opportunities.”
Butler County Chamber of Commerce president Jordan Grady said its partnership with Entrepreneurs Forever is one of the best its ever had and now it has added another tool to its resource kit for small business owners.
“When someone wants to grow their small business, call us and ask what resources are available,” Grady said. “We have robust referral partners in the start up space, the working capital space and now we have a strong referral partner in the growth space.”
Grady said he feels this program will have a strong impact in Butler County down the line once local business owners go through the program, improving their business, thus improving economic activity.
“My take is if the government is going to fund something and our county is included in that funding, we have to make sure we punch above our weight and get our tax dollars back into our community,” Grady said.
When a small business owner signs up for the program and meets the qualifications, Abney said Entrepreneurs Forever member success managers will reach out to them and talk about their needs to find the right group for them.
“It could just mean they need a morning or an afternoon group,” Abney said. “Or they want to be in a group with people from Butler and we figure out what group is best for them.”
Groups will then meet once a month in two-hour increments for a total of three years Abney said, where small business owners can work together to solve mutual or group issues pertaining to their businesses.
“During the two hours they will have structured and unstructured time,” Abney said. “Each of these groups is facilitated by a small business owner in their own right. The leader helps the group talk through conversations as far as what is going on in their business.”
For example, a few people or the whole group might need help with marketing Abney said, and because those in the group will be from different industries, the leader or other members of the group can chime in and help come up with solutions to the problem.
Group leaders are also able to pull curriculum from its virtual shelf, Abney said, and present it to the group, again based off their needs and concerns.
Entrepreneurs Forever is a national program, Abney said, with over 1,000 small business owners across four states in its program.
The grant secured by Casey is a way to expand the program to not just Butler County, but other surrounding rural counties as well.
“We just had a similar event in Lawrence County two weeks ago,” Abney said. “We have been to Venango, Erie, Fayette and Washington. We are moving and working our way around the region.”
Abney did express that it is not too late for Butler County small business owners to sign up for the program, even if they didn’t attend the Thursday, May 30, event.
For those interested in learning more or signing up for the program, Abney said to visit www.entrepreneursforever.org.
