Rural Small Business Circles

Small Business Circles provide a confidential setting in which peers can discuss and solve real-time problems with real-world experience.

Building a small business takes capabilities, customers, courage, and connections! 

Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), with grant support from GO Virginia Region 9, is working with our rural localities’ Chambers of Commerce, and Economic Development offices to launch Small Business Circles (SBC) in your area! Serving entrepreneurs and small business owners located in Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Rappahannock, we’re looking for those with businesses in Food & Beverage Manufacturing, Light Manufacturing, Financial & Business Services, IT & Communications.

SBCs provide a confidential, supportive setting where you can connect with peer entrepreneurs and business owners, share and be heard, listen and learn, and discuss and solve real-time challenges with real-world experience. 

Participants will enjoy:

  • Opportunities to engage with 4-7 entrepreneurs and small business owners with operating businesses that are generating income
  • 2-hr monthly meetings for at least six consecutive months
  • Confidential and intentional communications with a solutions-based focus

If you’re interested in participating, please click here or use the link below. Decisions on placement in circles for this pilot effort will depend on the number of responses in the identified business sectors. Some individuals may participate in regional circles inclusive of members from multiple counties. Selected circle members will be notified in December 2024, with initial meetings planned for January 2025.

For questions or more information, please contact Terry Woodworth, Rural Ecosystem Builder, at terry@cicville.org or Jessica Thompson, Rural Ecosystem Navigator, at jessica@cicville.org, or call (434) 218-3481.

This project was funded in part by GO Virginia, a state-funded initiative administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) that strengthens and diversifies Virginia‘s economy and fosters the creation of higher wage jobs in strategic industries.

Interested in joining a Rural Small Business Circle?

Register Now