SAN DIEGO (CNS) - County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and the University of San Diego launched a small business accelerator program Monday for the communities of Chollas, City Heights, Encanto, Linda Vista, Rolando and Redwood Village.
The Innovate-Up program will leverage roughly $1.5 million in resources from the county and USD to support and invest in local businesses.
The program is funded in part by a $300,000 grant from the county to USD's Brink Small Business Development Center.
Starting later this month, Innovate-Up will begin hosting free weekly workshops to offer one-on-one consulting and small group meetings between small business owners and industry leaders, county staff and USD faculty.
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At each meeting, business owners will learn about how to bid on local government or university contracts, branding and marketing, how to attract seed money and how to certify a business as veteran-owned, women-owned or minority-owned.
``Innovative products and new technologies don't just come from people living in Silicon Valley; I believe we have that same caliber of an entrepreneur living in Encanto, Chollas, City Heights, Rolando, Redwood and Linda Vista,'' Fletcher said. ``Innovate-Up will cultivate our homegrown talent, and help them to make a lasting impact on their community.''
The first Innovate-Up workshop is scheduled for Aug. 22 at the Malcolm X Library. Small business owners can find a full list of Innovate-Up workshops and sign up for them at innovate-up.com/events. Program organizers can also be contacted at 619-260-4547 or info@innovate-up.com.
