UW-Stevens Point: SBDC offers training seminar for business start-ups

University Relations and Communications, 715-346-3046, Fax 715-346-2042, http://www.uwsp.edu/news

An eight-week training opportunity for starting or improving business will be offered in Wisconsin Rapids by the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

The Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) is for business owners and those thinking about starting their own business. A free introduction to the program will be held Monday, January 5, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Wood County Courthouse, 400 Market Street, Wisconsin Rapids. Classes will follow at that location from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday evenings, January 19 through March 9.

The program includes sessions on management skills, business planning, marketing, financial records and controls, and financial planning and budgets. Each session will feature a guest speaker with expertise in a particular area of business.

All participants are required to complete a business plan within 90 days after the course is finished. SBDC counselors are available to assist students in completing their plans at no additional cost.

A subsidy from the Wisconsin Department of Commerce has reduced the $1,000 course fee to $250 per person for those who apply through the SBDC.

For more information, contact Dorothy Snyder at UWSP Continuing Education SBDC, 715-346-3838 or 800-898-9472, or visit the Web at http://www.uwsp.edu/conted/sbdc.

The SBDC is facilitated by UWSP Continuing Education, which provides credit classes, degree completion programs, conference planning, contract training and an array of personal and professional development programs for business and industry, youth, working adults and special audiences.