ECC - Small Business Center: GATE

The GATE Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, is a scholarship program that provides training and coaching to help laid-off or dislocated workers interested in starting a business. It is being offered to rural North Carolinians from 2009 through 2011, and is being directed locally through the Small Business Center at Edgecombe Community College.

A limited number of GATE scholarships will be offered in each location based on an application process. Those selected for the scholarship will receive:

• Individual assessment of entrepreneurial skills
• Entrepreneurship training and counseling
• An introduction to other resource professionals who can help you throughout the life of your business
• Help applying for a microenterprise loan upon completion of a workable business plan

Applicants must:

• Be dislocated workers (lost a job through no fault of their own due to a business closing or layoff) and be eligible to work in the United States
• Be 18 or older and eligible to work in the United States
• Complete an orientation session and scholarship application

For more information, please contact Shari Dickens, GATE Program Coordinator, at (252) 823-5166, ext. 166, dickenss@edgecombe.edu or visit www.NCProjectGate.org.