CTI has also launched its annual community needs assessment survey

Lowell, MA – The Entrepreneurship Center (E-Center) is launching a new program, QuickBooks for Small Businesses, available to businesses in Middlesex and Essex Counties. The QuickBooks Program offers small businesses educational training on and use of accounting software to enhance their ability to manage and grow their companies, providing increased ability for economic success. Through a group setting of classes and one-on-one thereafter, business coaches will provide on-going support to small business owners to ensure they are on the right track.

“Financial reporting is a vital component for any small business to obtain and measure their growth, inventory and other factors that are the essence of running a business. We recognized the strong need for small businesses in our community to develop their capacity for financial reporting, as this is often a barrier for their growth and financial stability,” says Charles Smith, Director of the E-Center. “Our ability to offer QuickBooks as an option for entrepreneurs and provide a dedicated Coach to train them on installation and use is a game changer for small and micro businesses who often don’t have access to these tools or it may be cost prohibitive.”

The QuickBooks program will consist of an introductory meeting with five weeks of training to include implementation and customization of QuickBooks online. The classes are 1.5 – 2 hours in length, every other week and oﬀered in a hybrid method. The E-Center Program Coordinator is a certiﬁed QuickBooks professional and will work with E-Center Business Coaches to help guide small businesses through the program. This is a two-year commitment, with the ﬁrst year fully paid for by the E-Center. The Business owner must then provide $600 at the start of training for the second year to cover the cost of the annual QuickBooks subscription. If a business already has QuickBooks, it would not have to pay anything in the second year.

Applications for the first program cohort close March 31 Space is limited. Apply here.

Needs Assessment Open Now

Community Teamwork is in the process of compiling its new Community Needs Assessment and is working to get as many survey respondents as possible.

Please consider responding to the link below and/or sharing with Greater Lowell friends and networks.

Community Teamwork’s Community Needs Assessment Survey

This survey provides qualitative and quantitative data on poverty in our region and can be used to help identify additional resources needed. For example, last year’s CNA survey showed that the largest group in town living under the federal poverty level (FPL) is not seniors but children between 6 and 17.