Getting to Know GROW

I love sharing the mission of GROW with local people who have questions about starting a business. So often I run into people who never would have talked about their business ideas, but open up completely when I let them know that I work for a small business center that helps people start and grow their business. The great thing is that we offer several free and low-cost entrepreneurial resources, but the tough part is getting the word out! GROW does many things to help educate and empower business owners, but even long-time GROW businesses and volunteers often don’t know everything that we do. With that in mind, I want to share information about one of the lesser-known—and most valuable—services we have available.

Many business owners have told us that they started off on the right foot because of the advice they received from our business counselor, Tom Heinz. Tom does free business counseling (yes, free!) to people who need information, referrals, or even just need a sounding board for their ideas. Sometimes people come to our office with incredible ideas, and just need to know that they are on the right track. Other times people come in for business counseling completely stuck and need help figuring out what to do next. No matter what size your business, or how big or small your idea is, you can always contact GROW to see if we can assist you. Even when we can’t help directly, our staff is constantly learning about other community resources available so that we can connect GROW clients with what they need. All you need to do is take our Intro to GROW orientation, and then get in touch for a follow-up. Intro to GROW is offered the first and second Thursday of the month, at noon and again at 6pm. It’s a one hour overview of everything we do, and the gateway to all of our programs. Visit growbusiness.org to view our events calendar and RSVP for an upcoming Intro to GROW!

-Adrienne Asselmeier, Director of Marketing and Communications