The City of Wichita received $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support the formation of Wichita State University’s Office of Innovation and New Ventures Small Business Digital Transformation Program. The program will address technology gaps in the local business ecosystem.
A vast majority of small businesses that suffered during the pandemic are in-person businesses with storefronts that sell food or merchandise or are service industries where there is significant face-to-face interaction. Most of these businesses were unable to operate as normal during the pandemic, and many were forced to shut down.
The program will focus on pandemic-related issues, such as the adoption of digital transformation in customer-centric business and the establishment of a support system to overcome educational and cultural barriers to adopt digital business tools.
Analysis by the Office of Innovation and New Ventures identified access to technology as a core need of many small businesses.
In response, the Small Business Digital Transformation Program created a four-week training program for business owners designed to streamline workflow with a focus on issues that emerged from the pandemic such as conversion to online sales and tracking digital sales and growth.
The Small Business Digital Transformation Program will also contribute to building a talent development pipeline for tech trained employees by connecting students from Wichita State University in applied learning experiences within the companies.
Wichita State students hired as digital navigators will help businesses design a digital-integration plan and will help implement specific technology to boost efficiency.
