SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is recruiting for this year’s training program under its Emerging Leaders initiative for Syracuse–area small businesses.
The business-training program is “free,” according to the SBA.
The Emerging Leaders initiative targets small companies that have the “potential” for rapid expansion and job creation, the SBA said in a news release. Firms need an operational track record of three years or more.
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U.S. Representative John Katko (R–Camillus) joined the SBA on Friday at the Liehs & Steigerwald store at 117 E. Fayette St. in Syracuse to launch the recruitment effort.
Jeffrey Steigerwald, president of Liehs & Steigerwald, graduated from the Emerging Leaders program in 2011, the SBA said.
The seven-month, executive-entrepreneurship education series, which the SBA describes as “intensive,” includes about 100 hours of classroom time per participant.
It also provides small-business owners the chance to work with experienced mentors, attend workshops, and develop connections with their peers, city leaders, and financial communities.
Interested small-business owners can contact Dan Rickman at (315) 471-9393 ext. 250 or email: daniel.rickman@sba.gov.
Eligibility criteria and application information are available at www.sba.gov.ny/syracuse.
The program, providing more than 40 hours of advanced-management training, is a collaboration of the SBA Syracuse District Office with CenterState CEO, CNY TDO, City of Syracuse Office of Neighborhood and Business Development, Onondaga County Office of Economic Development, Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc., MACNY, Onondaga SBDC, SUNY ESF, Syracuse SCORE, The Falcone Center, The Tech Garden, and the WISE Women’s Business Center.
Since 2008, the SBA Emerging Leaders program has helped more than 3,000 small-business owners in 51 cities nationwide grow their businesses with support, resources, and “skills to succeed,” the agency said.
As of the 2015 class, 78 Central New York entrepreneurs have completed the program since it launched in Syracuse, according to the SBA.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com