COVID In Larimer County: Small Businesses Get Advice, Guidance During Coronavirus Thanks To CSU
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) – Hundreds of Larimer County-based small businesses will be given free advice and guidance when it comes to navigating the economic impacts of COVID-19 thanks to Colorado State University and the county. The "Pivot Jumpstart" program, funded with $200,000 from the county, links local small businesses with business professors from CSU's well-respected College of Business.
The first cohort of businesses to participate are already engaged in the four-week program which gives the businesses access to business experts.
"It's very much so community building, very much ecosystem building," said Rob Mitchell, associate professor of business at CSU.
Through CSU's Institution of Entrepreneurship, Mitchell and other staff members at CSU are spending time each week discussing business platforms and exploring ways each individual business can "pivot" to remain economically viable during and after the pandemic.
"We want them to really understand how to deal with uncertainty, how to create value, how to deal with changing market," Mitchell told CBS4's Dillon Thomas. "How does pivoting aspect of our business really enable us as a business to create value?"
The program, which would typically cost individual companies more than $2,000 each, is being fully covered by the county.
One of the more than 70 businesses already approved to participate in the program is Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer of Fort Collins. Director of Player and Coach Development Chris Bentley said he signed up his company for the program in an effort to better explore ways to reach youth with athletics during social distancing or health concerns.
"At one point here during the year it was a real eye opener on how we could serve our members," Bentley said. "We operated around 60% capacity. That was a real eye-opener for us. There were people that were uncomfortable with coming out and playing."
By engaging in the program, Bentley said they soccer system would be able to explore new avenues to reaching young people with the game of soccer. Some of those changes to the current business model could include virtual experiences.
"There's a lot of different ways that I think we can be a little more creative," Bentley said. "We felt that having a foundational understanding from a world class education at CSU, especially being free, was an amazing opportunity."
While the first cohort has already started sessions, and the second is full, CSU is currently accepting applications for the cohorts taking place in 2021. Mitchell said the goal is to also create a cohort that specifically tailors to local Spanish-speaking companies.
