Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program (HEMP)

About

The Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program (HEMP) matches growing entrepreneurs one-on-one with business veterans to help them grow their business.  HEMP focus on businesses around $1 million in revenue and higher, three years or more in business and with five or more full-time employees. Applications to participate in the program as a mentee or mentor are due in August of each year. 

Application guidelines include: 

• Must be in business for at least three years 
• The business must generate around $1 million in annual revenue 
• Applicant must be the ultimate decision maker for the organization 
• Applicant must have a desire to substantially grow the business 
• Must have five or more full-time employees 
• Must display internal and external integrity 

Components of the program include a one-on-one mentoring relationship, networking opportunities with peers and veteran business owners, exposure to mentoring skills that can be applied to any professional or personal situation, business education discussing greatest successes and lessons learned from peers and top CEOs in the community, and field trips outside of Kansas City to businesses such as Tesla (San Francisco), Zappos (Las Vegas), Starbucks (Seattle), Dave Ramsey (Nashville), Marel (Iceland) and 3M (Minneapolis).