New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center is partnering with the El Paso County Economic Development Department to offer two free six-week business accelerators this October and November. Local businesses interested in tailored mentoring and coaching, as well as unique local opportunities, are encouraged to apply.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Arrowhead Center in sharing resources that can help boost local businesses hit hard by COVID-19 and are looking to scout new opportunities and new ideas,” said Jose M. Landeros, El Paso County Economic Development interim director. “These new strategies will help participants maintain solvency at present and build capacity for resilience in future times of economic uncertainty.”

The dates for the sprints are Oct. 16 to Nov. 20 for the BizSprint accelerator, and Nov. 6 to Dec. 11 for the AgSprint accelerator. BizSprint will offer participants intensive, cohort-based experiences that guide entrepreneurs through business creation, pivot and growth, with an emphasis on customer discovery, market insight and e-commerce.

AgSprint will focus specifically on businesses interested in agricultural innovation.

Both sprints aim to help El Paso-area businesses and industries heavily affected by COVID-19 measures such as mandatory closure of non-essential businesses, stay-at-home orders that severely curtailed business patronage and foot traffic, and consumers forced to spend less due to reduced income.

Because both sprints are delivered virtually, with weekly cohort sessions and one-on-one sessions with each participant, the program is positioned to help businesses immediately and spur economic growth. Each cohort will support 10 businesses, and each session will last six weeks. There will also be four weeks of follow-on support including one-on-one assistance, access to Arrowhead resources and the Enterprise Advisor network, and up to $25,000 in Amazon Web Service Credits and $125,000 in IBM Cloud Credits.

“These sprints will provide El Paso businesses an opportunity to engage with new peer groups and connect to business leaders who can help guide them through specific challenges,” said Dana Catron, director of Strategic Operations at Arrowhead Center. “Our speakers are selected based on what participants need at the time of the Sprint – getting face-time with these experts is invaluable, and one of the highlights of the program.”

The deadline applications for the free BizSprint is Oct. 12. Participants may apply at https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/sprints/bizsprint-elpaso/.  

Application deadline for the free AgSprint is Oct. 26. Participants may apply at https://arrowheadcenter.nmsu.edu/program/sprints/agsprint-elpaso/.  
  
For more information, contact Carlos Murguia at cmurguia@nmsu.edu or 575-646-2025.