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Deadline for Small Businesses To Apply for Advantage West-led ‘Scale Up WNC’ Grants is Jan. 15

AdvantageWest Economic Development Group Vice President Matthew Raker (left), with Chris Grasinger of Ascent Business Network in Boone, N.C., a training and technical assistance partner in the ScaleUp WNC program, provides assistance to entrepreneurs as they ‘scale up.’ Photo illustration courtesy of AdvantageWest
AdvantageWest Economic Development Group Vice President Matthew Raker (left), with Chris Grasinger of Ascent Business Network in Boone, N.C., a training and technical assistance partner in the ScaleUp WNC program, provides assistance to entrepreneurs as they ‘scale up.’ Photo illustration courtesy of AdvantageWest

Jan. 6, 2015. With Western North Carolina’s history and heritage of entrepreneurial independence, an impressive number of training, funding, mentoring, and technical assistance resources are available across the region to aspiring small-business owners.

Among those are the Advantage Opportunity Fund, Blue Ridge Food Ventures and Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council – all initiatives of AdvantageWest, the nonprofit regional economic development organization, and all serving primarily early-stage businesses.

Now, thanks to a five-year, $1.2 million contract award from the U.S. Small Business Administration, a new level of support will be available to help scalable small firms grow and create jobs.

Led by AdvantageWest, ScaleUp WNC will provide intensive growth strategy development and implementation assistance to 150 Western North Carolina growth-oriented entrepreneurs. This stage of companies, after startup but before maturity, tends to be underserved in the region and across the country.

ScaleUp WNC offers a unique opportunity to help expand growth-oriented businesses and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem across the region. Twice a year, with training and technical assistance from project partners, the Ascent Business Network in Boone, N.C., A-B Tech Entrepreneurial Development Foundation in Candler, N.C., and the Sequoyah Fund in Cherokee, N.C., the highly competitive program will provide an intensive six-week education curriculum developed especially for established businesses.

Each cohort, consisting of 15 business executives, will also receive one-on-one management support, assistance in connecting with growth capital, and the opportunity to strengthen connections and networks.

Using prior metrics as well as those from similar programs in other regions, this project aims to result in 600 new jobs created and $18 million in new capital raised by small businesses in Western North Carolina within three years of project completion.

“The SBA is pleased to be able to provide this funding to our good partners at AdvantageWest,” said Deputy District Director Mike Arriola, of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s North Carolina office, based in Charlotte.

“Having served in the past as the SBA officer for Western North Carolina, I have known AdvantageWest for 10 years and am fully confident in their ability to help our deserving entrepreneurs in this region ‘scale up’ to their next level of business success. We look forward, as our entrepreneurs here do, to an outstanding initiative here in the west.”

“For AdvantageWest to be selected by the SBA as one of only eight organizations in the country for this initiative is a tremendous honor, and presents a huge opportunity for growth-oriented small businesses across our 23-county service area,” said W. Thomas Alexander, chair of the AdvantageWest Economic Development Group board of directors.

“We expect this project to yield a diverse class of new entrepreneurial leaders that will drive economic development in the region for years.”

Applications are now being accepted through January 15 for the first cohort, which will start in late February.

In December, AdvantageWest will host networking and informational events for potential candidates in four locations across the region, with each event featuring a presentation from a distinguished Western North Carolina entrepreneur. For eligibility requirements, dates and locations of networking events, and other facts about ScaleUp WNC, visit ScaleUpWNC.com.

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AdvantageWest is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit regional economic development organization serving the 23 westernmost counties of the state, a geographic region of about 10,000 square miles or about the size of the state of Maryland. For more information, visit www.AdvantageWest.com or call (828) 687-7234. AdvantageWest is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AdvantageWest and on Twitter at @AdvantageWest.