Business Academy Honors 1st Grads

The first group of Ventura County small-business owners to complete an intensive business training course graduated Tuesday from Cal Lutheran University’s Entrepreneur Academy.

The Entrepreneur Academy was set up two years ago to stimulate innovation and better management among small businesses countywide by providing them with free university-level business training.

A $290,000 state grant allowed the county to join forces with Cal Lutheran’s Small Business Development Center and enroll more than 200 local business owners.

“It’s been a great success,” said Marcella McGee, director of the Small Business Development Center. “What’s most dramatic is that they can take what they learn and use that information immediately in their work.”

The only criteria for enrollment were that the businesses employ from five to 50 people, that they pay unemployment insurance on each employee and that the business owner agree to attend all of the classes during the 12 weeks of training.

Participants spent more than 100 hours in the classroom and an equal amount of time outside class writing business plans.

“Despite that intensive time commitment, we had a fabulous completion rate,” McGee said. “In this class, we had 55 enroll and all but three completed the program. The ones that dropped out left because the earthquake offered them tremendous business opportunities.”

County officials are unsure whether the program will continue after the last of the 200 business owners complete their studies in June.

“We would sure like it to continue,” McGee said. “There are more than 14,000 small businesses in the county. I think they need training like this.”