The Massey Center has been a certified provider of FastTrac®, a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, programs since 2003 and has trained over 450 aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with these programs. The FastTrac® program is one of America's leading entrepreneurial training programs that provides business insights, leadership skills and professional networking connections that prepare entrepreneurs to start new businesses or expand existing enterprises.

The United States is the most prolific society for creating new businesses. However, according to the Small Business Administration, the latest statistics show that only two-thirds of new businesses survive at least two years and only 44 percent survive at least four years. Most aspiring entrepreneurs start businesses in fields where they have technical expertise, such as carpenters, graphic artists, bakers, or consultants, to name a few. However, they often forget about the non-technical or business management side of the business. Entrepreneurs need to be trained in the many facets of business development in order to increase their success rate both during and after start-up.

How important are small business to the United States Economy?
According to the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, in 2005, there were approximately 25.8 million small businesses in the United States, and these small businesses:

• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms
• Employ half of all private sector employees
• Pay more than 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll
• Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the past decade
• Create more than 50 percent of non-farm private gross domestic product (GDP)
• Produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large firms
• Are employers of 41 percent of high-tech workers
• Are 53 percent home-based and 3 percent franchises
• Comprised 97 percent of all exporters and produced 28.6 percent of export value.

The Massey Center Training Programs
The FastTrac® programs are designed teach entrepreneurs the non-technical business development skills they need to start and/or grow successful businesses. FastTrac® is one of America's leading entrepreneurial training programs and remains on the cutting edge by providing programs that are written by entrepreneurs...taught by entrepreneurs...for entrepreneurs.

Click our program links to learn more about our FastTrac® training opportunities.