Recent graduates of Michigan City’s Entrepreneurship Development Program Bootcamp are ready for the next step in their entrepreneurial journeys.
They are the first group of emerging entrepreneurial cadets to graduate from the program.
The bootcamp is rooted in the University of Notre Dame’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative. The program aims to boost underserved residents ready to launch a small business. The goal is to lay the foundation for a stronger entrepreneurial community in Michigan City.
“We are adapting a national program to fit the needs of our own emerging entrepreneurs,” Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said in a press release. “The goal of the program is to spark an entrepreneurial spirit here in Michigan City that is supported by resources and expertise to create sustainable small businesses.”
Throughout the program, entrepreneurial experts guided 16 community members on a range of topics. Topics included the foundation and structure of a business, access to capital, marketing, branding, pitching your business, having an entrepreneurial mindset, operations, prices and networking.
Initial business ideas ranged from restaurants and consulting to HVAC and retail. The program will continue with individual counseling by members of SCORE, who are volunteer mentors that have experience as entrepreneurs.
“The bootcamp was an intensive look at business ownership and the opportunities and challenges of being an entrepreneur,” Clarence Hulse, Economic Development Corp. executive director, said. “The point of the bootcamp is to start our community members on the right path as they launch or grow their businesses.”
