Since MBDP started, we have provided counseling and education to over
4000 low to moderate income Vermonters striving to start or expand small
businesses. We have launched or expanded over 600 Vermont businesses,
and, in the process, leveraged over $5 million in financing. For over
10 years, MBDP has helped low and moderate income Vermonters achieve
self-sufficiency and turn their business dreams into reality.
The MBDP is a statewide program of Vermont's five nonprofit Community
Action Agencies: Regional Map
Central Vermont community Action Council, Inc. (CVCAC),
Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Inc. (CVOEO),
Community Action in Southwestern Vermont (BROC),
Northeast Kingdom Community Action, Inc. (NEKCA) and
Southeastern Vermont Community Action Council, Inc. (SEVCA).
We provide technical assistance, classroom training, and loan application
packaging. We help low to moderate income Vermonters use self-employment
as a means to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Other Community Action
support services like Head Start, family community supports like Family
Economic Development, Weatherization, Individual Development Accounts,
and crisis services are available as well to our clients.
Partnerships
Our partners are:
a) Vermont State agencies--including the Department of Employment &
Training, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Department
of Social Welfare,
b) Lenders--including Vermont Job Start, the Vermont Development Credit
Union, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, the Economic Development Council
of Northern Vermont and local revolving loan funds,
c) Non-profit organizations--such as Northeast Employment & Training
Organization, Women's Small Business Program at Trinity College, SBA
Women's Business Center, the University of Vermont, Cyberskills, VT,
and the Northern Community Investment Corporation,
d) Municipalities--such as the City of Burlington,
e) federal entities--such as the U.S. Small Business Administration
and the Small Business Development Centers, and
f) other microenterprise service providers--such as members of the
Technical Assistance Providers Association.
g) In addition, we recognize the important volunteer contributions
of numerous private businesses and individuals. These partnerships have
enabled client referrals collaborative grant applications, program development,
and increased services for our clients.
Building Leadership
For 10 years, MBDP has assumed a leadership role in defining directions
for advancing the development of microenterprise in Vermont. Our real
task, however, is to foster leadership by assisting individuals who
strive to create their own economic destinies. The results of this effort
are evident in the diverse microenterprises around the state that signify
a qualitative improvement in the lives of families and individuals and
that strengthen, grow and stabilize Vermont's economy. As these Vermonters
prosper, so, in turn, does Vermont's economy.
Services
MBDP offers a variety of business technical services to income-eligible
people. Core services consist of a) one-on-one counseling, b) classroom
training and c) loan packaging. Loan applications inevitably require
formal business plans, so MBDP counseling frequently begins with creation
of the plan. At the same time, staff will guide the individual in evaluating
the validity of the business concept and her/his own readiness to undertake
self-employment. This evaluation allows MBDP to make the best recommendations
to the client regarding next steps and continued training.
A central component of our services is classroom training. One key
curriculum is "Readiness Training," ideal for those who want to evaluate
their "readiness" for self-employment, or who haven't yet decided on
a business concept. The other key curriculum is "From Dream to Reality,"
an 8 week course in managing a small business, with emphasis on marketing
and financial controls. By course end, participants have all the information
needed to produce a business plan suitable to accompany a financing
application.
Classroom training is supplemented by shorter seminars on topics ranging
from "Selling Basics," to "Creating a Customer Database." Shorter seminars
vary in topic and frequency from region to region.
The Need
Many people choose self-employment because it is the only way they can
obtain work that is personally rewarding, provides a living wage to
support their family, and can be worked around their personal situation.
Self-employment can provide quality jobs for people with situations
that are not easily accommodated in the traditional workforce, e.g.
people with disabilities, single parents, people with limited education
or work experience, people with health restrictions, etc. Without the
option of self-employment, many individuals would be limited to dead-end,
minimum wage jobs, despite strong ambition and marketable skills. Self-employment
can be a wonderful opportunity for anyone to try new ideas or pursue
a dream.
Goals
Our goal is education. People with the vision, discipline and drive
to pursue self-employment often lack business basics. Even experienced
business owners may struggle to makes ends meet because they do not
excel in certain areas of business management. Because small business
owners are required to be a "jack-of-all-trades," it is important that
resources are available to help them learn necessary skills. Our counseling,
workshops, and classroom training provide a foundation for their success.
Through education, we help people overcome barriers. People with limited
financial resources usually face even greater initial barriers to business
start-up and expansion than others because they lack collateral for
loans, they may have poor credit histories, and they may be strapped
by cash flow problems. Barriers like these do not need to prevent people
from running a successful business. We can show people how to get the
resources and assistance they need.
