CHAD CAIN

After 10 years as Project Manager of entrepreneurial training at the UMass Donahue Institute, Kate Hayes has announced her plans to retire.  Ms. Hayes was initially consulted by UMDI to get funding for the entrepreneurial program. After receiving the funding, the Donahue Institute asked Ms. Hayes to lead UMDI as Project Manager of the entrepreneurial program.

"I said yes thinking it would be for a few months and 10 years later I'm still here," she said.

The training program has been funded through the Workforce Development Program by the U.S. Department of Labor.  The training program consists of 10 weeks of classroom time, where trainees develop ideas and create a business plan.  The program then includes 10 weeks of “one-on-one implementation training.”

"Some of the adults who took the class had spent decades in the workforce," she said. "There was a lot of experience and knowledge."

Several hundred businesses have evolved in the Valley and Worcester County as a result of the program.

Funding for the program has recently been cut creating a concern for Hayes, “Small business is what runs the economy ... this kind of support, there is not enough of it," she said.

Ms. Hayes plans to continue consulting part-time upon retirement.