This would be really nice if it was curtailed with a microloan program.

By Benny Polacca
Osage News

Osages interested in being entrepreneurs or improving their current business operations are invited to apply for a free seven-week intensive training course starting July 12 at the Osage Nation Education Department in Hominy.

The Tri County Technology Center in Bartlesville is offering the Osage Nation Small-Business Boot Camp which is open to tribal members interested in pursuing small-business ventures. This intensive training course will be offered five times during the seven-week run at the Education Department building in Hominy with student homework assignments planned, which includes creating a simulated business operations plan.

“This is the start-up program” for future Osage entrepreneurs, said tribal member Vince Logan who has been working in association with TCTC on the boot camp course. “This is for someone who is beginning. Logan owns a New York-based investment company which works with tribes nationwide.

The deadline for enrollment is July 2.

The first class of the intensive training “boot camp” will be July 12 with students also expected to attend classes on July 19, Aug. 9, Aug. 16, and Aug. 23 with classes scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. those nights. Course enrollment will be limited to about 15 students and those who successfully complete the course will earn credit hours from TCTC.

“It’s really a 30-hour course,” said Elaine Dettle who is senior director of economic and community development at TCTC which has offered the small-business boot camp courses for years. “There will be homework during the break time and if the students are serious then it’s no problem.”

Those who are also interested in forming a non-profit organization may also apply and be considered for the course, said Dettle adding that several portions of non-profit work involve using entrepreneur skills as well.

The Administration for Native Americans is sponsoring the free boot camp-style course which will be taught by Darek Jarmola, an Oklahoma Wesleyan University professor. The course is geared at giving students “a jump-start on making business ideas a reality or helps existing business owners” improve their fiscal positions and marketing strategies, according to the course description.

The ANA is under the federal Department of Health and Human Services and Administration for Children and Families. It is responsible for promoting self-sufficiency and cultural preservation for Native Americans by providing social and economic development opportunities to eligible tribes and Native communities, according to its Web site.

The small-business boot camp course encourages students to conduct a considerable amount of research and work on their own business plans which will be reviewed by the instructor and a working business professional, which would be either Logan or his business partner at The Nations Group LLC based in New York.

Logan said the course gives the prospective entrepreneur students the opportunity to experience what it’s like “to be reviewed by a potential investor.”

Dettle said the small-business course will ask students to complete a business plan outlining their entity’s operations for at least a year with several details to consider in competing with other businesses and organizations.

Dettle said the business plan will be critiqued with several questions in mind including: “How unique is it? What’s your niche? Have you looked at your competitors? Have you done creative marketing?”

The business plan in the course also needs to detail one year’s worth of estimated revenue and potential revenue ideas and staffing needed for the business.

“We’re asking (the students) to really think it through before starting a company,” Dettle said. “We ask them to go out and find ideas.”

To enroll in the small-business boot camp program, download and complete an application available online at www.tctc.org or contact Elaine Dettle. She can be reached at (918) 331-3257 or e-mail at [email protected].

Those interested in enrolling in the small-business boot camp will be asked to provide tribal membership proof. The deadline for enrollment is July 2.