Registration open for the first Dreambuilder cohorts of 2025

The graduates of the most recent DreamBuilder business development program celebrate with a group photo Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at Eastern Arizona College. - David Bell Photo/Gila Valley Central

THATCHER — There’s still time to get help to be one of the Gila Valley’s newest entrepreneurs.

The SBDC announced that registration is ongoing for the next Dreambuilder sessions, with courses beginning Jan. 28.

Those wishing to learn more about Dreambuilder are encouraged to take part in a free kickoff meeting, Tuesday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to noon, in room AP-271 on the Thatcher campus of EAC.

In Greenlee County, the kickoff meeting is Jan. 22 at the Clifton Social Club.

DreamBuilder, funded by Freeport-McMoRan and created by the ASU Thunderbird School, started as an online training program designed for women in South America, to assist them in starting or growing their own business.

However, when the SBDC at EAC began teaching the course, it adopted a hybrid model of online courses with one in-person instruction each month. That change elevated Dreambuilder’s completion rate from 27 percent online only, to a 77-percent completion rate.

That success prompted the U.S. Treasury Department to grant $7.9 million to the Arizona Commerce Authority to implement the EAC SBDC model in 10 Arizona counties.

To register for the next Dreambuilder sessions, click here. Cost is $50.

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