LIVINGSTON COUNTY — Ten aspiring entrepreneurs graduated from the FastTrac New Venture Program Monday night. This was the second time the highly respected Kauffman New Venture program has been offered in Livingston County.
Graduates attended ten sessions designed to explore the participants’ entrepreneurial ideas and then develop them into a realistic, viable business plan.
The FastTrac model requires that the course be facilitated by entrepreneurs who can share their business experience with the class in practical terms. The class was facilitated by Tom Vonglis of Hurricane Technologies and Carl Lutz of Lutz & Associates who are both seasoned entrepreneurs with many levels of business experience to share. A typical FastTrac session includes facilitated discussions and activities, networking, a guest speaker, and one-on-one coaching.
Each participant in the class worked on their own business venture throughout the program. Attendees came into the class with a specific idea, and quite often that idea changed over the course of the program. This session’s graduates have plans for a wide range of businesses: a movie theater, computer facilities management, a tavern, a retail shop, pest control, local food products, a driving school and several agricultural businesses. Some have already started their business, while others are projecting startup in a year or two. The online planning tools that the Kauffman Foundation provides are made available to FastTrac graduates for life.
Major sponsors supporting the FastTrac New Venture program in Livingston County are: Freed Maxick, National Grid, and The Bonadio Group. The State University of New York at Geneseo partnered with the Livingston County Development Corporation by providing the space for the class in Milne Library. Other program sponsors are: ESL Federal Credit Union, The Bank of Castile, Steuben Trust Co., and Paychex.
The FastTrac New Venture class will again be offered in 2013, and applications are available online by going to www.fasttrac.org. For more information on entrepreneurship programs in Livingston County contact the Livingston County Development Corporation(LCDC) at (585) 243-7124.