Initiative:

AT&T Foundation:

NEXUS HERO PROGRAM

Period:

December 2010 through November 2011

Funding:

The AT&T Foundation is the grantor for the $10,000 project.

Purpose:

TMI’s innovative Nexus Hero Program is designed to provide technical assistance to communities to help them expand broadband usage and increase e-commerce activities and to provide outreach workshops to existing businesses and potential entrepreneurs to show them how to use the Internet to expand their markets.

TMI has contracted with iBusiness2.0 operated by Clay Hamilton to provide these services. Hamilton will visit interested communities to conduct a survey of existing broadband services and activities and current e-commerce usage. Technical assistance will be provided to help each community identify opportunities for improvement.

TMI will publicize and offer a Nexus Hero Workshop in each community.  These workshops target small businesses and entrepreneurs and provide them a basic course in Internet marketing, bring in successful e-commerce businessmen to tell their stories, and provide resources for one-on-one market counseling. The Institute plans to work with at least 12 to and up to 19 communities. Information about the program and success stories will be published on the Institute’s website.

Results:

TMI will evaluate progress towards its outcomes on a quarterly basis.  Six months after each workshop the Institute will survey participants to determine if they utilized e-commerce to expand their markets and the dollar value of new markets reached. Six months after a community adopts a Nexus Hero action plan, the Institute will survey community leaders to assess the impact of the plan. The Institute will provide a final report to AT&T. Outcomes projected for this project include at least 12 communities served, 12 Nexus Hero Workshops held, and 12 Nexus Hero action plans developed. The target for total workshop participants is 250.