Madras Pioneer january 8, 2009

Free service offers help to entrepreneurs
Calling all entrepreneurs! The Central Oregon MicroEnterprise Facilitation program will be holding a community meeting in Madras for all those who have ever thought about starting a business, or have opened a business and need some help to get to the next level of success.    The meeting will be held Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County Library at 241 S.E. Seventh St.    Enterprise Facilitation is a free and confidential service that helps entrepreneurs to navigate the maze of small business ownership.    "We help entrepreneurs down the path to success by providing free one-on-one management coaching and by connecting entrepreneurs to resources," said Greg Hohensee, facilitator.    "It's formed connections between all the rural cities that wouldn't have been there," he said.    The project offers its services to Jefferson, Crook, Northern Deschutes, Wasco and Sherman counties, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.    In Jefferson County, Enterprise Facilitation has assisted three clients in Madras, two in Culver, and 10 in Warm Springs.    Enterprise Facilitation has been used in 22 countries, totaling over 300 projects reversing business mortality. Worldwide, businesses that use Enterprise Facilitation have a greater than 80 percent success rate.    There are currently five Enterprise Facilitation projects in Oregon. The oldest, Baker City BEGIN has helped create 76 new businesses, acquire 12 more, tune up 158 existing businesses, and create 172 new jobs, all within eight years.    The Central Oregon MicroEnterprise Facilitation project has been operating for about eight months and has consulted with 39 clients, helped with two start-ups, one expansion and tuned up six businesses.    "We are also looking for dedicated individuals to serve on the CoMNet (Community Mentoring Network)," said Hohensee, who pointed out that the time commitment is one and one-half hours a month plus drive time, "and the reward is a healthy main street."    Central Oregon MicroEnterprise Facilitation is a community service provided by the Wy'East Resource Conservation and Development Area Council.    For more information, visit centraloregonmicroenterprise.com; wyeast-rcd.org; sirolli.com; bakerbegin.org; or hipponexus.com.