Through July 21 — Internet-based Summer ’20 BBE business plan training & grant opportunity

FLAGSTAFF — Since 2007 Coconino County has been assisting eligible county residents with its Basic Business Empowerment (BBE) training (www.coconino.az.gov/bbe) and Individual Development Accounts (IDA) match saving grants (www.coconino.az.gov/ida) opportunity. The 9-week, summer 2020 BBE training is scheduled to be held 6-9pm, Tuesdays through July 21st only online via a 9-week Zoom Web-based video conferencing format.

To enroll online for the next BBE course click here to access an application.

Coconino County currently contracts facilitation for its BBE training from the Coconino Small Business Development Center to provide additional resources for our BBE participants.

Besides receiving a completed BBE application we need proof of legal Coconino County residency. A photo or scanned copy of an applicant’s Arizona Driver’s License is often sufficient, but if their home address isn’t current a copy of a utility bill, bank statement, or government letter addressed to them with their name and current residential address needs to be attached.

Also, prior to approving a prospective candidate’s enrollment the applicant needs to take a short online assessment of their entrepreneurial tendencies/capacity by clicking HERE. We use the applicant’s score to gauge how suited they may be for business start-up and ownership.  After completing their assessment they should copy and paste their scores into a reply email to me or into a Word document they attach to it. (Applicants should note the assessment website is independent of the BBE program and they should not register or provide their e-address, unless they want to receive solicitation from this entity.)

Once the above requirements are completed a $125 registration fee must be paid for the candidate to be fully enrolled.  The last page of the BBE application asks for household financial information required for statistical purposes per our Community Services Block Grant funding and is held confidentially in the applicant’s folder. This information is also used to determine eligibility for our 50% BBE training scholarship and to pre-screen eligibility for the IDA match saving grant opportunity. Once an application is approved, the $125 class fee must be paid to reserve an applicant’s Web-based connection and can be paid online or via a mailed-in check.