RISE Business Bootcamp

The RISE Business Bootcamp, also known as the CIC Entrepreneur Workshop, is an annual cohort-style training program offered to support entrepreneurs in Southern Virginia. We are proud to celebrate our program alumni.

Cohort in Progress

Cohorts Completed

Entrepreneurs Served

Cohort 6 – Spring 2025 CIC Entrepreneur Workshop powered by RISE

Starting with Cohort 6, the RISE Business Bootcamp will be the “CIC Southern Virginia Entrepreneur Workshop Powered by RISE.” The Spring 2025 virtual cohort begins in February and will finish in May 2025. 

CIC Southern Virginia Entrepreneur Workshop powered by RISE Collaborative

Cohort 5 – Winter 2024 RISE Business Bootcamp

The Winter 2024 Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This cohort included thirty (30) entrepreneurs representing twenty-eight (28) businesses, including eighteen (18) existing businesses and ten (10) startup businesses, located across fourteen (14) of the fifteen (15) GO Virginia Region 3 localities. This cohort met virtually from January 9, 2024 through March 5, 2024.

Cohort 4 – Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp

The Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This cohort included thirty-four (34) entrepreneurs, including existing businesses and startups, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually from January 2023 through March 2023.

Pictured here are the members of the Winter 2023 RISE Business Bootcamp.

Cohort 3 – Spring 2022 RISE Business Bootcamp

The Spring 2022 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This cohort served six (6) entrepreneurs, including existing businesses and startup businesses, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually in spring 2022.

Cohort 2 – Fall 2021 RISE Business Bootcamp

The Fall 2021 RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was facilitated by the Longwood SBDC in partnership with the SOVA Innovation Hub. This cohort served fifteen (15) entrepreneurs, including existing businesses and startup businesses, from across GO Virginia Region 3. This cohort met virtually during fall 2021.

Cohort 1 – Spring 2021 – Downtown Blackstone Community Business Launch

The original RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS was part of 2021 Community Business Launch hosted by Downtown Blackstone, Inc. in partnership with the Longwood SBDC.  This was a local, in-person cohort that served nine (9) entrepreneurs, including existing and startup businesses, who wanted to locate in Downtown Blackstone, which is the Virginia Main Street district of the Town of Blackstone in Nottoway County, Virginia. The Longwood SBDC team of Brandon Hennessey and Katherine Anne Beale integrated the CO.STARTERS Core curriculum made available by RISE Collaborative. Following the business bootcamp, in July 2021, eight (8) of the participants pitched in the Community Business Launch pitch competition. Downtown Blackstone Inc. distributed a prize pool of $46,000 to five (5) businesses. Read more on the Virginia Main Street website >

Participants in the Blackstone CO.STARTERS cohort pose at the completion of their pitch competition.

Pictured here are Longwood SBDC representatives Brandon Hennessey (second row, left) and Katherine Anne Beale (second right, right) along with the eight (8) entrepreneurs who pitched at the Downtown Blackstone Community Business Launch in July 2021.

Program Sponsors

The RISE Business Bootcamp is made possible thanks to Longwood Small Business Development Center (LSBDC), the Community Investment Collaborative (CIC), the SOVA Innovation Hub, and GO Virginia, as well as our guest speakers, community partners, and alumni who help make this program successful each year.

Testimonials from RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS Participants

Cissy Martin

Cissy Martin

Owner, Shear Happiness by Cissy (South Boston, VA) - Winter 2023 Cohort

"Attending the RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS last winter was a truly enriching experience. Not only did I have the opportunity to acquire valuable knowledge, but I also had the pleasure of meeting a diverse group of remarkable individuals. The connections I made during the camp have proven to be invaluable in my journey towards starting my business. The insights I gained during the camp have shaped my aspirations and provided a solid foundation for my future endeavors. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn, grow, and network through the RISE bootcamp. I highly recommend taking advantage of this opportunity to everyone I meet that is on the journey of entrepreneurship!"

Jan Daniel

Jan Daniel

Owner, Taa Daa the Bakery (Blackstone, VA) - Spring 2021 Cohort

“There’s a risk if you don’t pursue your passion. If you don’t try it, you’re going to beat yourself up for the rest of your life going, ‘I wonder what would have been.’ Now I don’t have to wonder. That’s how I ended up where I am.”

Ruby Reid

Ruby Reid

Owner, Valhalla Organics (Halifax, VA) - Winter 2023 Cohort

"I was honestly skeptical at first, since I've been in business for several years, but I learned a lot of advanced skills in the course, and I especially appreciated the CO.STARTERS Canvas structure for business planning. That was revolutionary for me, as a person who is naturally inclined to write a 20 page business plan with one million bullet points. I also learned (from my peers in the course as well as the course content) how easy and how important it is to create an LLC. I had been operating as a sole proprietorship since 2017, and I created the LLC this year literally the day after my cohort encouraged me to just do it."

Torian Jones

Torian Jones

Owner, beyouniquorn LLC (Farmville, VA) - Fall 2021 Cohort

“It really helped me validate myself, the progress that I had made, and the work I had done... It really helped me break things down as far as the business plan and the cost of products. Even though it was a really rigorous program at times, I can say it really helped me do what I wanted to do...We got into the mental affirmation of ‘you can do this; you were meant to do this.' One of the biggest things that can halt a labor is fear. So, keeping that calm and letting the process happen [is important]. I really appreciate CO.STARTERS and the foundation it helped me establish."

Carl Bassfield

Carl Bassfield

Owner, InDepth Productions (Blackstone, VA) - Spring 2021 Cohort

"The RISE Business Bootcamp powered by CO.STARTERS is a huge investment in self — one that's very necessary, especially if you want to become an entrepreneur. Everything is relevant. You're going to use all of the information that they give you.”

Ally Barfield

Ally Barfield

Owner, RV Mom in Pink (Blackstone, VA) - Spring 2021 Cohort

“I didn’t realize that I had good ideas or that my ideas were valid until I started taking the classes. I didn’t know anything about starting a business. The program gave me the tools I needed to make an actual business work. The instructors helped me figure out the financial side of it like pricing products, balancing a checkbook, and figuring out taxes.”