FERRIDAY — Small business owners who want to perform better and those with just a dream of owning their own business have chances in Adams County and Concordia Parish to get a crash course in business school this fall.

Starting Oct. 15 in Ferriday, Southern University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center’s Center for Rural and Small Business Development will host an open house for free business development classes that will be hosted over the course of six months at Central Louisiana Technical Community College.

The focus of the program will be business planning and the use of technology in the business.

“Southern University had a similar project they did in Tallulah, and because here are a great number of students attending Southern University from Concordia Parish, they wanted to bring this expertise here,” Ferriday Economic Developer Beatrice Cummings said.

“A lot of people do not have computer skills, and in the next 20 to 30 years, everything is going to be technologically based, so they wanted everybody to be familiar with the technology that is becoming more and more prevalent.”

The courses will include:

-Oct. 15: Program orientation and computer basics

-Oct 22 and 29: Utilizing Microsoft Excel beyond basic uses

-Nov. 5 and 11: Business planning, including identifying potential organizational structures, business documents, start-up costs and other issues.

-Dec. 3 and 10: An introduction to Quickbooks accounting software.

-Jan. 28: Identifying target markets, how to identify customer bases, analyze competition and develop a market strategy

-Feb. 18: A strategic planning seminar

-March 17 and April 7: A project or store management seminar with an emphasis on highlighting how to achieve goals while working within time and budget constraints.

A broader economic development seminar is also planned but does not have a specific date set.

All classes will be from 6 to 8 p.m.

In addition to teaching the participants how to use business software, the program will offer those who want to start a business an opportunity to work with the Southern University team to develop a business plan.

“This is about getting people knowledgeable about technology, and more than anything else getting those who want to be entrepreneurs that knowledge as well,” she said.

Ferriday Alderman Elijah Banks, worked along with others to bring the workshop to Ferriday, said having the program at no cost to attendees opened its access to everyone, offering them a chance to better themselves and ultimately the town.

In Adams County, the APEX Center will host the Entrepreneur’s Academy, a partnership of Alcorn State University and Natchez Inc.

While the weekly course aimed at helping current and aspiring business owners perform better — which will be 6 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday from Oct. 6 to Dec. 8 — will continue to offer lessons in how to grow healthy businesses, one thing that is different this fall over last fall is it now offers continuing education credits through Alcorn.

Topics to be covered include making business plans, networking, finding money, licenses and permits, accounting, the legal side of business and marketing and social media.

“We are working to get someone to come in who knows a lot about ecommerce,” program coordinator Aimee Guido said. “It is not that it’s required for every business, but to have just a little bit of knowledge you can use as you need it later on is never a bad thing to have.”

Guido said seven people have signed up, and organizers seek to have approximately 35 participants.

The entrepreneur academy costs $25, which goes to cover the cost of materials that will be distributed during the presentations, Guido said.

For more information about the Ferriday program, contact Cummings at 3180757-3411 ext. 5 or by email at townofferriday@bellsouth.net.

For more information about the Entrepreneur Academy, contact Guido at 601-445-0288, or by email at aguido@natchezinc.com.