Small business owners often face the question of "can we grow?" If the answer is yes, the investments and risks can be scary. The Kentucky Small Business Development Center, in conjunction with the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, is hoping to take the edge off some of the concerns about expansion. Chad Lampe speaks with Associate Director Gordon Garret and District Director Chris Wooldridge on Sounds Good about this new "economic gardening" program to grow small businesses.
Wooldridge says the program is designed to offer services specifically targeted at business growth. That includes strategic market research, geographic information systems, search engine optimization and social media marketing.
“I think what the Grow Kentucky initiative is going to bring to the table are those opportunities to provide information that these companies may not normally [have] without quite a bit of cost, and getting that information they need to make some second stage growth decisions,” Wooldridge said.
Garret says the initiative looks to develop second-stage companies that are:
- Past the start-up phase (roughly two years past opening)
- Made up of about five employees
- Earning $500,000 in annual revenue (Garret says this prerequisite isn’t quite as important as the others)
- Interested in growth
Garret says the whole process takes about four to five weeks, and consists of a series of phone calls between the KSBDC and the client. Twenty four companies have participated so far, including those from the agriculture, publishing and manufacturing industries. Wooldridge says several come from the western Kentucky area.
The services cost $1,500; for more information or to apply, visit the Grow Kentucky program page here.