The College of William & Mary’s Mason School of Business was recently awarded a contract that would allow the school to help unemployed or underemployed people launch new businesses in the area.
A grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor has enabled Opportunity Inc.’s Launch Hampton Roads to partner with W&M in an effort to educate unemployed, underemployed and dislocated workers in their ventures toward opening new businesses.
This is the first time W&M has been included in the effort, but Launch Hampton Roads began in 2012. Through the program, citizens are provided entrepreneurship training with funding from the Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Fund. The program is part of a study to determine which services best help budding businesses; the program will produce a control group and a study group working toward opening new businesses.
Williamsburg is gearing up for the first class of 10 to 15 students through the Launch Hampton Roads program, and William & Mary is seeking interested applicants.
In order to be considered for the class, interested citizens should register for an informational session. The first of two currently scheduled sessions will take place from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. March 25 at the Community Services Center, 321 Waller Mill Road. The second session is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon April 4 at the Virginia Employment Commission, 5235 John Tyler Highway.
Session attendees will learn what the program entails and what is required for eligibility. Basic eligibility requirements stipulate participants be 18 years old or older, authorized to work in the U.S. and unemployed, laid off or underemployed. Underemployed workers live in a household making under a certain amount of money based on the number of people in the family.
Once interested citizens are determined to be eligible, they will fill out an application to be considered for the program. Through a random process, up to 25 participants will be chosen and notified. The participants will go through a 40-hour, five-day class to educate them on business planning, finance and credit, sales and marketing, developing websites, using social media and accounting. Participants will be mentored, invited to networking events, workshops and seminars and other training events over three to six months.
The group of applicants not chosen will be the control group for the Department of Labor’s study. Eighteen months after applying, applicants will be called for a survey about their success in opening a new business. The information will be used to determine future programs and grants.
For more information about the program, visit the Launch Hampton Roads website and watch a video. For more information about the information sessions, or to sign up, call or email Bill Bean at 757-221-7825 or email [email protected].
