FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 25, 2018
OKMULGEE, Okla. – As a Training Partner of the GrowOK project, Mvskoke Loan Fund will host a free GrowOK Workshop Oct. 19 in Okmulgee, Okla.
Valued at $375 per person, the one-day class is available FREE to Oklahoma residents who are looking to start a business or grow an existing business.
GrowOK is a project funded through a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant with matching funds from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations, as well as Oklahoma Business Roundtable and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
The program provides tools to new and expanding businesses by helping them in ‘targeting the ideal customer’ and then increasing that customer base.
GrowOK was created to diversify rural Oklahoma economies and create job opportunities through promoting the small businesses of under served Native and rural entrepreneurs.
The training is an expansion of the Venture Assessment Program created by i2E, an Oklahoma corporation that provides advisory services to startup companies.
Mvskoke Loan Fund Chief Executive Officer Christopher Coburn said this training meets the needs of customers and potential loan clients. It also complements well the ongoing training provided by Mvskoke Loan Fund’s Business Boot Camp courses.
How does this benefit the community? “When our people are able to generate more income and provide for their families and their future, it makes the tribe as a whole stronger and the community, as well,” Coburn said.
In addition to providing business loans to Muscogee (Creek) citizens and members of other federally-recognized tribes, Mvskoke Loan Fund hosts trainings such as GrowOK as part of its services offered.
Mvskoke Loan Fund is a non-profit corporation and Community Development Financial Institution certified by the U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund. Mvskoke Loan Fund provides financial-related skills and programs, which include in-house tax preparation, financial literacy education, business planning assistance and more.
“We teach clients how to handle money, how to use money to better their lives and for qualified applicants we provide the loans to make it happen,” Coburn said.
For more information and a complete list of services Mvskoke Loan Fund offers, visit www.MvskokeLoanFund.org or call 918-549-2603.
The Oct. 19 GrowOK workshop will be held 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the College of the Muscogee Nation in the Student Center, Rooms 107 and 108, located at 2170 Raven Circle Okmulgee, OK 74447.
To register for the training, visit the GrowOK website at www.GrowOk.org. Seating is limited and open to the first 60 people registered. Lunch will be provided.
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