Wendy Roche was unsure what to do after the course she taught for nine years at North West College was discontinued.
After taking some time to think about what she could do, Roche decided to start her own business. Northwest Community Futures helped her through the process.
"I felt like I knew how to start my own business and this informed me that I did not," Rocha said, laughing. "It was very helpful."
The program, which has an office in North Battleford, offers up to 40 hours of personalized, one-on-one training and up to $1,000 of financial support for current and former employment insurance recipients who look to start their own businesses.
Lesley Sterling is the general manager of Northwest Community Features Development Corporation. She said the program is for people who have "the drive to be an entrepreneur."
Sterling said there are a number of different businesses Northwest Communities Features can help with, including those involving running a day care, and being a counsellor, hairdresser or plumber.
People who are interested obtain a referral from labour market services, Sterling said, then labour market services refers individuals to Northwest Community Features for a detailed assessment.
The detailed assessment involves an in-depth interview about the business. Training is given based on what the up-start business would need.
"That would be a couple hours talking in-depth about their business," Sterling said, "and to see if it's actually viable."
Sterling said the program could also accommodate the degree of tech-friendliness participants would want to use for their businesses.
Roche said instruction material involved marketing, running a daily bank account, along with technical information such as the difference between a corporation and a full proprietorship.
Sterling said the program trains about five to10 people per year.
