Berkshire Enterprises' Training Focus
	Strategic Planning, Financial Management, Marketing, Business Plan Development, Advertising and Sales

Entrepreneurial Training If you are a dislocated worker with an active unemployment claim, you may be eligible for tuition funding. Contact your One-Stop Career Center for more information. View Testimonials

Since 1989 Massachusetts has been sponsoring Entrepreneurial Training Programs (ETP) for dislocated workers. As part of the statewide Rapid Response effort to provide re-employment services to dislocated workers, ETP provides intensive training and technical assistance to people with a promising business idea and a desire to start their own businesses. The curriculum includes:

Instruction on market research, marketing tools, strategic planning, networking and community resources, sales techniques, time management, presentation skills, and financial management. Volunteer guest speakers are also brought in to provide specific technical expertise in areas such as legal, insurance, human resource, and commercial real estate issues.

The objective of the program is to assist participants in the preparation and implementation of a specific, comprehensive Business Plan tailored to each individual entrepreneur's needs.

Another important component of the program is to facilitate connections between the entrepreneur and all of the resources and services he or she may need to successfully launch and sustain a business. The purpose of these programs is to create jobs and contribute to the economic development of Massachusetts.

Even those who decide not to start a business benefit significantly from skills gained in the program. Our follow up surveys indicate that 83% of those who found jobs following the program had wages at least as high or higher than their pre layoff wage. In general, 87% of program graduates, whether business owners or employees, indicated a very high level of job satisfaction.