Macomb starts FastTrac entrepreneur classes

Thursday, January 28, 2010 | Source: metromode

Green job and entrepreneurial programs are sprouting up around Metro Detroit now that Macomb County is trying to grow more entrepreneurs and Henry Ford Community College is harvesting $1.3 million in federal workforce grants.

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded the grant to help train people for 'green' jobs over the next two years. The money is part of the $150 million federal Pathways Out of Poverty program that comes courtesy of the federal stimulus. Henry Ford is partnering with Southwest Housing Solutions and a member of the Southwest Detroit Consortium for Green Jobs to help retrain the metro area's workforce for the sustainable jobs of the 21st Century.

TechTown's New Economy Initiative is spreading its wings to Macomb County, which is starting to employ its FastTrac program for entrepreneurs.

The program focuses on helping laid-off and displaced workers pursue dreams of being their own boss. That could mean anything from helping them turn a skill into a business or a hobby into a career or even buy into a franchise business.

"The idea is to develop a business plan that will assess their concept and develop a strategy to implement it," says Don Morandini, regional director for the Macomb Small Business and Technology Development Center.

The 10-week program requires participants to attend one three-hour class each week. There they learn the basics about pursuing a business and making it successful. Normal class size ranges from 15-25 people and the next session begins on Feb. 1.

The New Economy Initiative is partnering with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to create the three-year program based out of Detroit's TechTown business incubator. The New Economy Initiative is making $9.25 million in direct cash investment available while the Kauffman Foundation will provide expertise to help the transition, such as staff, materials, and its FastTrac and Urban Entrepreneurship Partnership programs.

FastTrac is a 15-year-old business development program that helps unemployed or underemployed people transition into entrepreneurship through an intensive 3-10 week training program.

Source: Don Morandini, regional director for the Macomb Small Business and Technology Development Center
Writer: Jon Zemke