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Shaker Heights wants to help you start your own business

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Shaker Heights wants to help you start your own business

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Shaker Heights is inviting aspiring business owners to apply for a series of free workshops aimed at helping them get their ideas off the ground.

The Shaker Startup Support Network will feature weekly classroom sessions led by entrepreneurs from around Northeast Ohio beginning Sept. 18.

Classes are at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Nov. 20 at The Dealership, a co-working space on Lee Road just south of Chagrin Boulevard. There will be no class Oct. 16.

The application is on the city’s website. Staffers in the city’s Economic Development Department will review each application and reach out to those who are eligible.

Economic Development Specialist Silvia Iorio said there are 10-12 available spots for the program, and she hopes to have all applications submitted by Friday.

“It’s meant to be an intimate setting in the classroom so that our entrepreneurs can ask direct questions,” Iorio said.

The Van Aken District first started hosting educational sessions in 2022 to cultivate new businesses in the shopping center. The city of Shaker Heights expanded the program citywide earlier this year as a way to encourage growth of minority-owned and women-owned business in the city.

Those who successfully complete the program get priority access to pop-up retail opportunities in the Van Aken District and the Chagrin-Lee commercial district.

The city waived the table fee at last month’s Chagrin-Lee Block Party for participants in the sessions earlier this year, Iorio said.

If the city has more applicants than spots available, Iorio said she will keep them on-file for the next series of sessions, likely next year.

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