JAX Bridges recently celebrated a decade of helping Jacksonville’s small business community expand their business. The small business program launched in 2014 as a part of the JAX Chamber Entrepreneurial Growth Division and has over 2,000 graduates.
The program provides entrepreneurial education at no cost for small and medium sized businesses to inspire strategic network growth and contract opportunities. The initiative started in 2014 by Dr. Carlton Robinson, Chief Innovation Officer of JAX Chamber.
“We had the programming concept prior to joining the Chamber. It was about validated learning”, said Dr. Robinson. “We created an opportunity for innovators to exchange with stakeholders, get funding, and work for each other. It is a vision that has worked out very well.”
During the qualification process, small businesses practice plans, pitches, and strategies among corporations through a series of traditional in-person, online, and hybrid activities. The three month course ensures participants are finishing the program with proven, professional knowledge on their industry.
JAX Bridges runs two cohorts each year and now has 20 groups of small business leaders who have completed the program. Applications for Cohort 21 open Aug. 12.