Want expert help to grow your small business?

Applications close Dec. 10 for ScaleUP! Kansas City, a new free program that will work with 12 to 15 Kansas City area entrepreneurs in developing their businesses.

The program will be managed by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center, which landed one of eight ScaleUP! America program contracts nationwide by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“The ScaleUP! America award to UMKC will enable several Kansas City area small businesses to plan and navigate the trajectories for their growth,” said Patricia Brown-Dixon, Region VII Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The curriculum for ScaleUP! Kansas City begins Jan. 15 and will continue through May. It will examine each participant’s enterprise, discover opportunities for growth, look at financials and fortify management skills through peer-to-peer roundtables. The goal is to assist business owners who are having trouble attaining sales greater than $500,000.

ScaleUP! Kansas City applicants are required to:

• Lead a company that has been in business at least two years.

• Generate annual sales between $150,000 and $500,000.

• Have a strong market than can generate more than $1 million in sales.

ScaleUP! Kansas City instruction will be delivered through FastTrac, Listening to Your Business and FastTrac GrowthVenture courses. Other information will come from the Kauffman Founders School and “collision” sessions between the program’s entrepreneurs and those who can help them expand their businesses.

ScaleUP! Kansas City will also seek to establish lasting connections between its participating entrepreneurs and peer cohorts who have experienced comparable business challenges while growing.

For more information and to apply, go to scaleupkc.com.