OGDEN — The company formerly known as Grow Utah goes national next spring.
Meanwhile, founder Alan E. Hall is looking for his next round of Utah entrepreneurs to compete for funding, information and mentorship through his ongoing Grow America competitions.
"I've been doing this, in some form, for six years now, and I thought, with what we have learned, we need to put some steroids into this and make it take off," says Hall, founder and chairman of MarketStar and several other businesses.
The seed idea of the project came years ago, when an acquaintance lost his job during an the economic downturn and confessed he and his family were barely scraping by on his three part-time jobs: doing accounting, working at a convenience store and delivering newspapers.
"I went home to my wife, Jeanne, and I told her, 'I've got to find something to help this fellow so he can go forward without working 24 hours for low wages,' " Hall says.
He asked one of his company supervisors to hire the man, and Hall kicked in money for the salary until his friend could get enough training to be a productive employee on his own.
"And it dawned on me how many other people are unemployed or underemployed," Hall says.
"As a private citizen, I can give of my own wealth to inspire entrepreneurs to get up and running with their ideas, and jobs will be created. They will hire people."
Small and startup businesses have created 40 percent of all new jobs in recent years, Hall says, and many grow faster than older, established companies.
Grow America awards funding to three top competitors in each of three categories: ideas, startup and growth.
In the first major competition in Utah, $250,000 worth of awards and services were divided among nine top competitors.
Applications are being accepted for the fall competition of Grow America, still limited to Utah applications. For application details, visit www.growam.com.
Richard Swart is executive vice president of Grow America.
"Nearly 1,000 applied for the first competition, and several hundred were chosen," he says.
"Ninety-nine percent of people will not get prizes, but we try to provide business strategy sessions, which still help everyone who doesn't win."
Hall says his goal is to help create 5 million jobs in America within the next five years. He expects to take Grow America national next April and already has talked with reporters from the New York Times, Forbes and other national publications.
Hall is hoping to attract financial partners to Grow America. So far, money has come from him, and some of the services, such as training, have come from Grow America's Utah partners, which include Zions Bank, Comcast, the Utah Jazz and Kunzler Law Group.
"Eventually, we will work with very large companies to provide money for entrepreneurs," Hall says.
"The goal is to do everything we can, not just in Utah but around the country. In January, the prizes will be worth half a million dollars in cash and services.
"We are just a small part of what America needs, but maybe we are a part of it."
ahowell 18 Sep, 2012
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