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Business accelerator accepting applications

The ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Interior Business Accelerator is accepting applications for its second cohort. The accelerator is designed to help new businesses through mentorship, networking, education and access to capital.

Aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage business owners from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Denali Borough and Southeast Fairbanks and Yukon-Koyukuk census areas are welcome to apply. The accelerator will culminate in a pitch competition with a prize award, and participants are eligible for microcredentials through the University of ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Fairbanks.

The accelerator is a collaboration between the ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Center for Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship, the Fairbanks Economic Development Corp., the ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Small Business Development Center, and the ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Community and Technical College. In the spring 2022, 10 small businesses graduated from the first accelerator, gaining mentorship and help on developing their business plan and strategies to run a successful small business.

"The ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Interior Business Accelerator is one of a kind,” said Russ Talvi, director of the ���Ϻ�����Ƶ Small Business Development Center. “The AIBA team provides all the information you need to launch and grow an early stage business in just eight weeks, along with a group of like-minded small business owners and friends doing the same."

The deadline to apply is Sept. 23. The eight-week in-person program costs $74 and will take place in Fairbanks. For more information or to apply, visit .

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Mark Billingsley, Center ICE director, mcbillingsley@alaska.edu, 907-474-2626; Jomo Stewart, president and CEO of FEDC, fedc@ak.net, 907-452-2185; Russ Talvi, business advisor and Fairbanks Center director, SBDC, russell.talvi@aksbdc.org, 907-456-7062; Mark Young, associate professor and program chair for applied business and accounting, ���Ϻ�����Ƶ CTC, mdyoung2@alaska.edu, 907-455-2862