Take the Business Development Bootcamp Survey

The Mohawk Valley Entrepreneur Assistance Center as part of the Institute for Rural Vitality located at SUNY Cobleskill will be launching their business development bootcamp for local businesses and farms in January 2025 and they want to hear from you! Organizers have put together a survey to refine and format the program to best serve local entrepreneurs here in the Mohawk Valley.

Organizers ask local Mohawk Valley small businesses to complete this survey so they know how best to help all of our local small business owners going forward.

About the Business Development Bootcamp

The Institute for Rural Vitality’s Business Development Bootcamp is a FREE 60-hr intensive business development course open to, and appropriate for, small business owners and entrepreneurs at every stage of progress. The business bootcamp includes seven “steps” along the course, broken up into smaller micro-steps in each class. The sessions are interactive and collaborative, involving activities and class discussions facilitated by business experts from various fields. There are no grades, but rather assignments to complete after each class that you will receive feedback on.

About their Institute for Rural Vitality

The Institute for Rural Vitality (IRV) at SUNY Cobleskill is proud to have been designated as the official Mohawk Valley Entrepreneurship Assistance Center (EAC) by Empire State Development, New York State’s economic development agency.  The IRV was established in 2018 with the purpose of engaging the resources available at SUNY Cobleskill, along with regional partners, to improve community and economic development in the region. The Institute has created a strong record of providing a wide range of support services at no cost for new, developing, and established farm and food entrepreneurs, intending to help launch, grow, and sustain businesses. In 2023, IRV was designated as the Entrepreneurial Assistance Center for the Mohawk Valley Region by Empire State Development. This designation represents the Institute’s expansion beyond its focus on farm and food entrepreneurship to serving regional business owners across all industry sectors.

Benefits of Participating

As a result of this designation, the IRV offers an array of business development services to small businesses in the region. These services include a FREE 10-week Business Development Bootcamp course in the fall and spring as well as one-on-one counseling and support to meet each entrepreneur’s specific needs and help them grow their businesses.

These services include, but are not limited to, assistance with:

• business planning
• marketing strategy and research
• brand development
• creating a website and/or social media accounts
• accounting and recordkeeping
• business registration and certifications
• how to take advantage of procurement opportunities
• how to find funding
• connections with experts and mentors

Eligibility for Services

In order to receive services through the IRV’s EAC, you will need to operate your business or have economic impact in the Mohawk Valley Economic Development Region. This includes Herkimer, Fulton, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, or Schoharie Counties. But that’s it! You can receive support through the EAC regardless of what stage your small business is at or what product or service you would like to offer.

So now is the time to complete the survey and let the folks at SUNY Cobleskill know how best they can help your business. Be sure to Follow The Institute for Rural Vitality at SUNY Cobleskill for most current updates on the Business Bootcamp and other services and offerings from the Mohawk Valley Entrepreneur Assistance Center.

Source: https://www.cobleskill.edu/institute/index.aspx