About the program
The Small Business Kickstart Program is a comprehensive initiative designed to “empower” and “support” small-business owners in Kyle, according to agenda documents.
Victoria Vargas, the city's director of economic development, said each program component was scaled from 1-5, with 1 being resources the city offers small-business owners and 5 being resources and opportunities that require additional resources, staff and/or funding.
The program offers one-on-one consultation with city staff who can assist with locating commercial property and the permitting process. The Small Business Kickstart Program also provides one-on-one consultations with experts from the Service Corps of Retired Executives and Texas State University’s Small Business Development Center.
Additionally, the economic development department is looking to offer a quarterly guest speaker series this fall, a mentorship program and a national leadership conference for small businesses.
Quote of note
Council member Bear Heiser thanked the economic development and tourism board for putting together the framework.
"I’m really excited to see how far we could take this in terms of trying to lower the barrier to entry for small-business owners," Heiser said.
