Prince George’s County is now taking applications for a new accelerator program geared to small-business owners seeking guidance on how to raise capital and effectively market and sell their products or services.
The program — a partnership between M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. and FSC First, a community development lender in the county — launches Sept. 26 and will run for eight weeks. It is accepting up to 25 entrepreneurs whose businesses are based in the county and have been in operation for at least two years.
This is the second time M&T Bank has teamed with the EDC on an accelerator program for small-business owners. Earlier this year it ran a seven-week program in the county for Latino business owners that was taught entirely in Spanish. The Buffalo, New York-based bank, the 11th-largest in the D.C. region based on metro area deposits, has also sponsored English-language accelerator programs in Montgomery, Frederick and Howard counties and in Baltimore City.
Courses will focus on things like strategic planning, sourcing capital, establishing credit, managing bank accounts, marketing, branding in licenses. The program will conclude Nov. 14 with a graduation and an award ceremony for winners of a pitch competition that will include cash prizes.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Alan Kline over at Washington Business Journal
