Rohan Mathew and Joe Shure are small business experts and founders of the Intersect Fund which aids small businesses grow through different training programs. The company provides assistance to a segment of the community by offering financial help, mentorship and training to budding entrepreneurs.
Joe Shure is the Intersect Fund’s co-founded and associate director. Intersect Fund is a non-profit based out of New Brunswick that aims to help people start and grow a profitable business. Since it started in 2008, it was able to serve hundreds of clients through coaching, training and microloans. In addition to his work with the Intersect Fund, Shure founded and manages Action Steps, a program that offers just in time coaching to would-be entrepreneurs, Shure is a writer of a small business column in the Home News Tribune and Courier News newspapers and he co-teaches a course at Rutgers University on Developing Small Business Skills.
The founding of the Intersect Fund was a result of the inspiration he gained inspiration from small business owners who pursued their dreams amidst adversity. Rohan Mathew was his classmate and when they were working at the student newspaper of their school, they realized their adoptive city was facing a lot of challenges. It had a high poverty rate compared to its neighboring state and most of its residents were struggling to make ends meet.
They thought about the things they can do as college students to address these issues. They found out that while they are unable to create jobs to the people, they could leverage the potential that is already there among the residents of the city.
They hosted business training courses and later on started disbursing microloans to new entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Intersect Fund was born in order to lend money to small business and provide them the fundamentals needed to succeed. This includes assisting them in creating marketing plans, registering their businesses and helping them manage their finances. They provide more loans every year than any other micro lenders in New Brunswick, NJ and many peer groups adopt portions of Action Steps, their business development program.
Just recently, Intersect Fund increased their lending threshold from $10,000 to $20,000 to help some of their longest standing clients grow. Their mission would be to bring about a society where the drive and dedication of entrepreneurs determine success. In the near future, stories of these business owners failing due to lack of capital or because they neglect to keep track of their finances will cease to appear.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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