12 Graduate New Business Course

A dozen people gathered on a frigid Thursday night in the Crown Heights Young Professionals (CHYE) Workspace for their graduation from a unique partnership between the CHYE and the Hebrew Free Loan Society.

These 12 aspiring entrepreneurs took part in a 12 week course designed to bring their nascent businesses to the market. Experts on small business, financing and law joined each week to share their knowledge, among them business coach John Childress.

According to Rabbi Yehoshua Werde, Director of CHYE, the goal of the 3 month course was to give students “the tools they need to succeed in the business world.”

The graduating students were Avi Werde, Idan Egan, Yossi Hershkop, Eli Goldstien, Asher Brummel, Yechiel Lichtman, Aaron Deitsch and Ariel Cohen.

While past courses had the attendees in the student spot, on graduation night the community members had a chance to present their projects on stage.

There are three goals I want to leave all of you with,” said Childress. “That entrepreneurship knows no limits, that determination is the most important characteristic and that careful planning will make a world of difference when you’ve put everything together.”

In a private conversation after the graduation, Childress confirmed his high hopes for the graduates and his pleasure working with CHYE. “This has been an excellent program,” he said. “The members of this community understand what their needs are and what they need to do to make them happen.”

Asher Brummel, who took the course to fine tune his promotional products and printing services, Bigapplepromos.com, felt the class to be “incredibly valuable, even for people with existing businesses.”

“I gained everything I needed to know to bring my vision from my head to actually launching it,” he said. “Every class encompasses a different aspect of business strategy. It was a great benefit for the Crown Heights community.”