NxLeveL targets rural entrepreneurs

NxLeveL for Entrepreneurs starts next month, and residents of rural counties will get a price break.

The 13-week course provides one-on-one counseling and entrepreneurial education. It's offered through the Nevada Small Business Development Center.

NxLeveL teaches small business owners how to conduct market research, establish competitive pricing, understand cash flow and report taxes.

Rural Nevada business owners can take NxLeveL for $95. Nevada Commission on Economic Development granted $72,000 in funding to bring the course to Fallon, Lovelock, Hawthorne, Dayton, Fernley and Yerington.

Churchill County Economic Development Authority, in conjunction with five other rural counties, prepared the grant proposal.

"NxLeveL is offered throughout the country and costs as much as $1,200," says Kathy Carrico, Nevada state administrator for the NxLeveL program. "In Nevada we receive $25,000 annually from Citibank for NxLeveL in Reno and Las Vegas so that the cost is only $395."

The program began in 2000 in Las Vegas and Reno. More than 1,200 Nevadans are NxLeveL graduates. In 2007 attendance reached a record high of more than 250 participants in Nevada including 59 graduates in Reno, 33 in Fallon and 15 in Fernley. "As a business assistance center, we see the issues that frustrate and concern our community's small business owners," says Carrico. Many find themselves overwhelmed once they start a business, and need immediate assistance in areas like market research, financial projections, and legal issues. NxLeveL addresses these and other critical topics, allowing for a much greater success rate of staying in business."

Log onto www.nxlevelnv.org for complete details of the February-March schedule. Classes run Feb. 5 through March 6.

For more information contact the Nevada Small Business Development Center at 1-800-240-7094.