FastTrac^® LaunchPad Initiative

Helping Businesses Survive and Thrive

The FastTrac LaunchPad initiative brings award-winning, entrepreneur-learning programs to:

Redeploy talent unleashed by the economic downturn to create innovative, entrepreneurial enterprises.
Help existing entrepreneurial businesses identify and nimbly pursue new strategies to become and remain strong in the face of our dramatically changing marketplace.

Reduced Price for FastTrac Materials

A joint initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Deluxe Corporation Foundation, FastTrac LaunchPad offers FastTrac NewVenture™, FastTrac GrowthVenture™, and FastTrac TechVenture™ program materials at a reduced price to FastTrac Affiliates who conduct programs for those facing unemployment or underemployment and for entrepreneurs with an existing business experiencing a shrinking customer base, reduced financing options, or other challenges due to current economic conditions.

Optional Delivery Models

Our targeted slate of programs, FastTrac NewVenture, First Step FastTrac^®, FastTrac GrowthVenture, and FastTrac TechVenture, have optional alternative delivery models to provide flexibility in meeting the needs of participants. We frequently find that unemployed individuals prefer to complete their program in 3 to 4 weeks to start their business more quickly. FastTrac Affiliates are encouraged to use a delivery format that meets the needs of their community, whether it’s a condensed time frame or a traditional once-a-week format.

New Information and Tools

The FastTrac LaunchPad initiative adds new information and tools to its comprehensive core programs. These materials can be found in your online Facilitator Toolkits:

FastTrac NewVenture Facilitator Manual – LaunchPad Edition helps aspiring entrepreneurs research the needs of the market and explore bootstrapping ideas as they evaluate the potential of starting a business and develop a plan for a successful start-up.
FastTrac GrowthVenture – supplemental materials guide entrepreneurs as they steer the right course to not only preserve and sustain the business but to position it for future growth. They explore the new needs of the market, assess and improve every area of business, manage cash flow, and discover future growth opportunities.
Launching Your Entrepreneurial Future, a set of materials for a three-hour pre-program workshop, is available at no cost to FastTrac Affiliates, to help participants explore entrepreneurship and make a decision about enrolling in a program.