The City of Charlotte Small Business Opportunity (SBO) Program seeks to prepare small businesses to compete in the marketplace by providing access to City contracts and building capacity through development opportunities. For this purpose, we have created special development programs to assist small businesses.
Development Opportunities for Small Businesses:
- Courses, classes and seminars (refer to SBO Development calendar)
- Workshops and events designed to help build capacity
- Avenues to learn cutting-edge managerial skills
- Industry specific best practices
The new Small Business Opportunity Development calendar highlights courses, classes and seminars offered for 2008-2009. Please click here for the SBO Development Programs 08-09 calendar (dates are subject to change).
If you would like more information about SBO Development Programs, please contact Jerrianne Jackson at 704-432-1311 or jbjackson@ci.charlotte.nc.us.
Development initiatives include:
SBO Partnership with CPCC - Institute for Entrepreneurship
- Do you have a strategic business plan?
- Is your marketing effective?
- Can technology help grow your business?
To assist City of Charlotte certified SBE's develop and grow their businesses; SBE's can enroll in free courses ($300 maximum) at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) – Institute for Entrepreneurship (IE). Learn more about IE at www.cpcc.edu/e-institute. It's easy to get started, contact Jerrianne Jackson at jbjackson@ci.charlotte.nc.us for more information.
PROJECT INTERN
Project Intern uses a web-based tool that provides access to college interns for projects. City of Charlotte certified SBE's in good standing are eligible to utilize Project Intern. There are three unique ways for utilizing interns, including; the "Fish" method, "Find" method, and Supervised Intern program. For more information, click here for a Project Intern Overview Sheet.
The SBO Program will host a Project Intern informational workshops for certified SBE's on Wednesday, December 10th from 12:00-1:00pm. If you are interested in attending, please contact Linda Alexander at linda@projectintern.com or visit http://www.projectintern.com/.
SPONSORSHIPS FOR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
The SBO Program provides partial sponsorships for annual membership dues toward local organizations that foster small business growth for the period of one year. Certified SBE's that do not have an existing membership with the applied for organization are eligible. Partnering organizations include:
For more information, click here for a Professional Association Fact Sheet and Professional Association Sponsorship Application
MENTOR PROTEGE
The Mentor-Protégé Program provides hands-on managerial and technical assistance, matching Small Business Enterprise (SBE) representatives from larger "mentor" companies with less experienced "protégé" SBE companies in need of guidance and training.
For more information, click here for Mentor Protege Fact Sheet or contact Giovy Buyers at gbuyers@ci.charlotte.nc.us
