A new training initiative is giving those who have lost jobs during the current economic downturn a chance to put their skills to work by starting their own businesses.

“Business Your Way” provides the training, guidance, and mentoring that make it possible for those who have the skill and desire to start their own business to do so. The free training is a joint project of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), The Center For Rural Development (CRD) and Bell-Whitley Community Action Agency (CAA).

Business Your Way will kick off with an orientation meeting Tuesday, Jan. 12.  Interested persons are asked to call 606-337-3044 to pre-register.

EKCEP Executive Director Jeff Whitehead said he hopes people who have recently been laid off will come to the orientation to find out how the skills they have developed working for others can be put to use in their own businesses.

“We’re especially interested in getting skilled workers who have been laid off because of plant or business closings to take advantage of the program. If you’ve lost your job because of circumstances beyond your control and you don’t want it to happen again, what better way to take control of your own destiny than to go into business for yourself?” Whitehead said.

“For example, think of an experienced welder who has recently been laid off. They know their skills are valuable, and they’ve thought about going into business for themselves, but they really just don’t know how. Our program will teach them the business skills they need to start earning money for themselves with their work skills,” Whitehead said.

The free Business Your Way training will be taught two nights a week at the Bell-Whitley CAA JobSight at 129 North Pine Street, Pineville.

The training course will last six months. The first three-month segment will consist of classroom instruction as the participants learn all the ins and outs of starting a business. This segment will include discussion and instruction about viable business ideas, customer service, record keeping, cash flow, taxes, legal and insurance issues, and other important considerations for a new business.

The second three-month segment will feature one-on-one mentoring from a local business leader that will give each participants advice and encouragement while they start their own new businesses.  This mentoring from successful local business people helps to set Business Your Way apart from other entrepreneurial instruction, said Crawford Blakeman, Business Solutions Coordinator for EKCEP.

“We aren’t just saying, ‘This is how you do it,’ and throwing them out there,” Blakeman said. “They’ll have one-on-one contact with local people in the businesspeople, and who better to learn business from than someone who is successful and active in the business community?”

In addition to developing marketing plans and building business relationships for their start-up businesses, participants will complete the program with a professionally developed business plan.

Jim Tackett, CRD’s associate vice president for leadership, education and training, said his agency is happy to participate in the training because it helps meet CRD’s goal of empowering and developing local communities.

"Equipping the residents of our region with the knowledge and skills needed to improve their personal and community's quality of life is at the core of the Center's mission,” Tackett said. “We are pleased to be partnering with the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program to provide training opportunities that will make our citizens competitive in today's global economy while strengthening the foundation on which our local communities can build sustainability."

To register for Business Your Way, call Bell-Whitley CAA at 606-337-3044. Space in the program is limited. Although the training is free, there is a $25 registration fee that is refundable upon completion of the program.

EKCEP is a non-profit workforce development agency operates the JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to more than a dozen state and federal programs that offer employment and training assistance for job seekers and employers.

CRD is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is improving the quality of life for individuals in its 42-county service region by providing leadership that stimulates innovative and sustainable economic development solutions.

Bell-Whitley CAA is a non-profit Community Action Agency that works to improve the lives of people in Bell and Whitley Counties. In addition to partnering with EKCEP in the JobSight Network, BWCAA provides many other services including Head Start/Early Head Start, Weatherization, Housing Initiatives, P.R.I.D.E., and Winter Care.