September 20, 2004 - Working adults interested in starting their own businesses can now take advantage of the Small Business Management Certificate program with Estrella Mountain Community College, a fast paced program consisting only of Saturday classes. Future business owners will benefit from the training and experience provided by a panel of experienced, successful business leaders who created the program with one single goal in mind: contributing to continued economic growth and development in the West Valley and supplying the workforce demands of this growing community. Included among the instructors are former Director of Economic Development and current Goodyear Deputy City Manager Brian Dalke; Dean Clay Goodman, Occupational Education, a successful business owner;internet marketing specialistClarissa Davis-Ragland; business faculty and former Wigwam Resort Manager, Fred Maihofer; and Stephen Shriver, former Wigwam Resort consultant, hospitality industry veteran and current Division Chair, Occupational Education at EMCC. "We've all been in business or are in business for ourselves," Shriver says. "We are able to take what a book tells you and show you what really happens."Classes meet every other Saturday for a total of nine 8-hour sessions, and cover a range of topics from tax preparation to customer relations and even internet-based marketing and advertising. Most importantly, students will finish the program with a completed professional business plan following Small Business Administration protocol. All five instructors will carefully review each plan, and offer suggestions and advice to fully prepare the student to present his/her plan to a potential funding source. "We usually have bankers attend the presentations," says Dean Goodman. "Some walked out in the hall after class and got a loan."At the end of the program, students can receive a Small Business Management Certificate, and can continue on to pursue an AAS Degree in Organizational Leadership, and transfer on to a university.The programs success is based on a single notion: come in with an idea and we'll help to build the reality, not only for the student, but for the economic health of the West Valley. The personal attention, small class size and convenient schedule draw a wide range of potential business owners, looking for an opportunity to learn from experienced professionals.While many students hoped to start traditional businesses like electricians, restaurants, clothing designers, and hair salons, Shriver says, "We've also had internet based businesses selling Mexican and African jewelry, tire and rim shops, and a business making soap from goat's milk. We've even had alpaca farmers. There's an infinite variety of potential businesses that come into our classes."The classes have helped businesses already flourishing in the West Valley as well. "I had one student whose husband owned a mobile truck repair business. She came in to learn how to run a small business herself - so together they could expand their current business," says Fred Maihofer.Regardless of the nature and scope of individual businesses, a small group of West Valley business leaders designed the Small Business Management program at Estrella Mountain Community College to offer working adults a new opportunity: to find out if they are suited for business ownership, and to prepare them for their own - and our community's - economic success.For more information, contact Stephen Shriver, Division Chair, at (623) 935-8461, or Nicole DeLeon, Office of Marketing and Public Relations, at (623) 935-8056. For more information about Maricopa Community Colleges' commitment to preparing a ready workforce, visit: http://www.maricopa.edu/workforce.
