Five women-owned firms complete course

The Utah District office of the U.S. Small Business Administration has announced that five women-owned Utah small businesses have completed the inaugural cohort of the Ascent Training Program.

The Ascent program is designed to help women-owned small-business owners grow their business through the first-of-its-kind, no-cost program that combines six weeks of online self-guided learning using the SBA Ascent platform, as well as six group virtual sessions. During the virtual sessions, participants learned more about the Ascent program business-related topics through what is called educational “Journeys” and through group discussions about growing their small{mprestriction ids="1,3"} businesses.

“The Ascent Training Program is a valuable tool for small businesses,” said Marla Trollan, SBA Utah district director. “We developed this cohort to provide an opportunity to introduce women entrepreneurs to this platform and learn with other women that are also striving to grow their companies. By providing a live, virtual training component, our hope was these women will stay connected after the cohort to help each other navigate the complex world of business ownership.”

The cohort was selected from a pool of over 60 applicants from areas across Utah and New Mexico. They were selected based on their eligibility and willingness to participate in the program.

The Utah women-owned small businesses completing the program are Jazmine Duncan, Skate Moab LLC, Castle Valley; Kimberly Flores, fulFilled, Park City; Lori Nay, Casion Star Theatre, Gunnison; Dana Shepard, Concrete Onsite Express, Duchesne; and Loraine Sundquist, Hidden Goat LLC, Caineville.{/mprestriction}