Voom Creative is pleased to announce Melissa McGath, Principal, has been accepted into the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Emerging Leaders Initiative. Melissa is one of 20 participants who began classes in April 2021 from a field of 130 applicants in the Minneapolis program.
Emerging Leaders Initiative provides free entrepreneurship education and training for executives of small businesses poised for growth. This intensive series includes 100 hours of specialized training over seven months as well as peer-to-peer counseling with experienced coaches and mentors and connections with local leaders and the financial community.
Business owners accepted into the program participating in the program receive customized training and complete a three-year strategic growth action plan with benchmarks and performance targets to help participants create a self-sustaining business that generates jobs and builds communities.
SBA’s Emerging Leaders Initiative was formed in 2008 and has trained more than 5,000 business owners, created more than 6,500 jobs and generated over $300 million in new financing.
To be eligible for the program, small businesses must:
- Be located in Minneapolis, St. Paul or surrounding suburbs, or one of the 51 other cities across the country where the Emerging Leaders Initiative is offered.
- Generate revenues between $400,000 and $10 million.
- Have been in business for a minimum of three years.
- Have at least one employee in addition to the business owner.
- Be committed to attend program workshops and complete required courses.