For more information contact:
Diane Wolverton
State Director
WyomingEntreprenuer.biz
Phone: 307.766.3405
ddcw@uwyo.edu

Shawn Beqaj
Vice President, Public Affairs
Bresnan Communications
Office: 914.329.7182

Bresnan and WyomingEntrepreneur.biz partner for Wyoming business

Cheyenne - Two Wyoming business service providers are celebrating National Small Business Week (April 21-25) with the launch of a new grant program for Wyoming entrepreneurs. Bresnan Communications has partnered with the WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz Small Business Development Center to create the Bresnan Business Incubator.

For more information on the grant, click on www.bresnanbusinesincubator.com, or call the Small Business Development Center at 307.632.6141.

This unique program includes a commitment by Bresnan of as much as $2.1 million through a combination of Public Service Announcements and grants to participating businesses. A media campaign announcing the program will be launched during Small Business Week. According to Bill Bresnan, the company’s founder and CEO, the goal of the partnership is to promote the work of the state’s Small Business Development Center network, advising and assisting businesses while also leveraging the infrastructure of Bresnan Communications, providing incentives for Wyoming entrepreneurs who are trying to develop new businesses.

“I personally have had the good fortune to have had an extraordinary mentor in my earliest entrepreneurial ventures, a benefit which enabled me to move forward and build even stronger companies throughout the years,” Bresnan said. “The state, through the WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz Small Business Development Center network, has significant mentoring and advising services already in place. The key goals of the Bresnan Business Incubator are to raise awareness of these services and, through our various grants and other forms of assistance, help more of Wyoming’s aspiring entrepreneurs and existing small businesses succeed in today’s competitive business environment.”

The state’s regional Small Business Development Centers currently provide a variety of mentoring services to new and developing businesses, such as helping build business plans. “What we’re really doing is taking what these regional centers have already done and enhancing it,” Bill Bresnan said.

Bresnan’s $1 million in public service announcements will direct interested entrepreneurs to a Web site which offers full details about the program plus information about assistance available at the regional SBDC offices. On the site, entrepreneurs will be able to fill out a short online questionnaire detailing their business ideas. The questionnaires will be forwarded automatically to the nearest SBDC office, where staff will begin the advisory process, evaluate each one and recommend appropriate candidates for the Incubator.

Initially up to 100 businesses in Wyoming will be chosen to take part in the program. Each will be eligible for a matching advertising grant from Bresnan worth up to $10,000. For every dollar a business spends on advertising with Bresnan, the company will provide matching advertising funds. “The idea here is to demonstrate how critical advertising is to a growing business or start-up venture,” Bill Bresnan said. We think our matching grants will really supercharge their advertising campaigns.”

In addition to the matching grants, Bresnan will produce the advertising spots at no charge, and its advertising and marketing staffs will work one-on-one with participating businesses. Bresnan will also offer participating entrepreneurs service grants for the company’s digital phone and high-speed Internet services totaling $100,000.

“Bresnan is a fast-growing member of the Wyoming business community,” Bill Bresnan said. “The Bresnan Business Incubator is our way of honoring and encouraging that spirit in the communities we serve.

Bresnan Communications is a broadband telecommunications company founded by Bill Bresnan in 1984. The company serves more than 300,000 customers throughout Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Today, Bresnan offers advanced digital voice, video and high speed Internet services including digital phone service, digital cable, digital video recorder service, high-definition TV, video-on-demand and high-speed Internet service. The company also serves the business community through its Business Services and Advertising Sales divisions. More information about Bresnan is available at www.bresnan.com.

WyomingEntrepreneur.Biz is a network of three service providers that help Wyoming businesses start, grow and energize their businesses. The Small Business Development Center provides expertise in planning, financial management, operations and marketing; GRO-Biz assists entrepreneurs sell their products and services to government markets and the Market Research Center produces sophisticated research on markets, customer demographics, competition and other market intelligence. The Small Business Development Center is a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming.More information about these and other services is available at www.wyomingentrepreneur.biz.

The mission of the Wyoming Business Council is to facilitate the economic growth of Wyoming. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.wyomingbusiness.org.

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