Equipping Entrepeneurs

In partnership with Builders + Backers, we are bringing their Idea Accelerator (a 90-day program that is a proven Onramp to Entrepreneurship™) to the heartland, empowering participants (called Builders), to put their business ideas into action.

Builders receive $5,000 in pebble grant funding to run experiments to test the demand and early-stage feasibility for their idea.

The Toolkit

The Community Growth Program Toolkit is an online platform that is meant to support economic developers and entrepreneurs who are looking for resources. The toolkit:

• Establishes community by aggregating all of the builders who have gone through the Idea Accelerator program and posting information on their ventures so that they can be contacted for opportunities.
• Presents data using Heartland Forward’s Entrepreneurial Capacity Index & Tool, also known as the “Impact Calculator” on how specific states can pull certain levers to improve their entrepreneurial ecosystems.
• Presents data using the Data Explorer to paint a picture of the status of your metro area on several overall economic indicators.