NORTHAMPTON — The Sphere Northampton will be launching an innovative initiative supporting women and nonbinary entrepreneurs after being awarded $89,000 through the Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program.
The grant will fund the Sphere Accelerator, a groundbreaking effort designed to provide essential tools, resources and mentoring to underrepresented business owners, fostering long-term growth and sustainability.
“This funding is a game-changer for The Sphere Northampton and the community we serve,” said Dr. Megan Allen, co-founder of The Sphere Northampton. “With this grant, we can help women and nonbinary entrepreneurs transform their ideas into thriving businesses while fostering an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem that benefits the entire local economy.”
The Sphere Accelerator will consist of two cohorts, each supporting 12 participants through an intensive and tailored version of the Mindshift Business Blueprint Program, facilitated by Dee Dice and Kasey Corsello. This proven incubator curriculum will guide entrepreneurs through the foundational steps of business development, including leadership, strategic planning, marketing, sales, financial management and inclusive leadership.
The program will emphasize building resilience, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and creating personalized business plans ready for implementation.
Co-founder and Chief of Momentum of The Sphere Northampton Megan Allen told Reminder Publishing the team at the Sphere has always wanted to integrate the Mindshift Business Blueprint Program into the work already done by the nonprofit.
“It seemed like a perfect opportunity to offer cohort based technical assistance to increase the number of women and nonbinary owned businesses in greater Northampton,” Allen explained. “Thinking about how we could do that for this particular subgroup, and have a hyper local lens focused on the greater Northampton area, it seems like a no brainer especially for a lot of the people that we already have coming into our community. This just seems like another level of support to offer them that would impact the local economy.”
The Mindshift Business Blueprint Program, an 8-week intensive curriculum featuring mentoring, will provide experiential learning and practical business planning tools like LIVEPLAN software, a business and financial forecasting software.
This funding will also provide three additional months of extended support from cohort-based mentoring, including peer mentoring and specialized workshops on financial literacy and data analysis led by Oriana Falkowski, owner of Money Map Coaching, and Becca King, owner of Aurora Small Business Consulting.
The new initiative will also feature comprehensive resources, skill building workshops and networking opportunities available to entrepreneurs, as well as a community showcase in December where businesses and their work will be presented.
The initiative aligns with The Sphere Northampton’s mission to connect and support driven women and nonbinary entrepreneurs while unlocking their potential and strengthening the local economy. By addressing challenges such as bias, self-advocacy and access to financial resources, the Sphere Accelerator will empower participants to succeed on their own terms.
The program will feature partnerships with organizations such as The Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Common Capital, ensuring participants can access financial resources, loans and grants. Networking events like “Coffee and Conversations” and innovative workshops like “Loans and Love: Speed Dating for Financial Success” will further foster connections and build a supportive community.
Allen said what makes the program different is its ability to prepare new or young entrepreneurs with being ready to not only improve their business but also their relationship within the community.
“What is a business owner if not a leader in our community,” Allen said.
Applications for the Sphere Accelerator will open sometime in late winter/early spring. Interested entrepreneurs can sign up for the Sphere email list via their website to be the first notified of more details and/or for the application.
The Sphere Northampton welcomes local organizations and community members to collaborate in nurturing an inclusive and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“We’re really dedicated to building that inclusive community that uplifts and inspires women and non-binary entrepreneurs, and education is a huge piece of that,” said Allen. “So, to be able to offer this free education and support to those that are bootstrapping and just putting together their business ideas – that might be underemployed, or wanting to start a business, but not knowing where to start, or wanting to scale their business – I think has the potential for amazing ripple effects in the local economy.”
