NW Valley Times

The city of Peoria is collaborating with Grand Canyon University's (GCU) Colangelo College of Business to enhance its economic profile. This initiative follows the city's recognition as the Large Organization of the Year by the Arizona Association for Economic Development last spring.

To support local startups and small businesses, Peoria and GCU have launched the GCU Entrepreneur Training Program. The program will be led by Robert Vera, founding director of Canyon Ventures. Vera expressed enthusiasm about this opportunity, stating, "If there's ever a time to be an entrepreneur, I believe now is the time."

The training program is set to run free 90-minute sessions every Tuesday and Thursday in April, June, August, and October at Peoria's community center. A maximum of 30 entrepreneurs will be selected for participation, with preference given to those holding a Peoria business license.

Vera will teach these classes drawing from his experience as an entrepreneur and educator at institutions worldwide. He emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship: “Entrepreneurs are the ones that take all the risk to solve all the problems so everybody else can benefit.”

The program covers various stages of entrepreneurship: Innovation state in April focuses on idea validation; Pre-seed state in June on building a Minimum Viable Product; Seed state in August on market entry and customer acquisition; Early state in October on scaling operations.

Peoria Deputy City Manager Mike Faust highlighted GCU's practical approach: “The most appealing thing to me about GCU is the goal around practical direct application.” Faust has previous collaboration experience with GCU from his tenure as director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety.

At each stage's conclusion, participants will present their progress during Demo Day presentations. They can pitch their businesses and compete for cash prizes awarded for Venture of the Year, Most Innovative, and Greater Value categories.

Vera also noted Peoria’s appeal as a well-managed city with opportunities like spring training events and Taiwan Semiconductor's presence. He expressed hope that entrepreneurs would choose Peoria as their base: “I want Peoria to be the place where entrepreneurs say, ‘I'm coming here,’” he said.