When the Lopez Island Family Resource Center offered a “Start a Small Business” class in 2007, no one expected it to spark such a great interest in the community. But five years later, 110 people have completed that course and many more have taken other classes in what has become known as the LIFRC’s Employment and Life Skills Program.

According to the LIFRC, the basic goal of the program is to increase employment skills and promote self-sufficiency, and they strive to provide classes appropriate for both aspiring and current business owners. Past participants have represented a diverse array of business endeavors, from salons to art studios, bookshops to cafés.

For recent participant Hawk Arps, a long-time Lopezian and professional musician who admits he has no formal business training, ELS classes have been a great resource in preparing him to take over his father’s business. The elder Arps founded Jan Arps’ Traders’ Toolbox in 1992, but will soon retire. The company “creates and sells software that analyzes financial markets,” says Arps.

Because the business is completely web-based, classes such as James Dunn’s “Online Marketing” and Susan Young’s “Social Media” have been of particular interest to him.  Arps says the classes have helped him develop an understanding of business fundamentals, and he praises the instructors, commenting that Dunn, for instance, is a “fun and very bright teacher.”

LIFRC Program Coordinator Patsy Haber says she enjoys facilitating connections between dynamic instructors and talented local businesspeople and is excited for new classes this fall. She plans to expand the program with new offerings, including a facilitated peer support group for business owners, classes specifically for Spanish speakers and low-income women, and more life skill classes such as cooking.

Funding from a number of organizations, such as United Way of San Juan County and San Juan Economic Developments Council, subsidizes fees for LIFRC programs, including ELS classes.  Without this support, says Haber, the LIFRC would not be able to offer classes at such affordable rates.

Arps says he definitely plans to take more classes in the future: “I find these classes to be not only helpful in giving me information that I can’t get anywhere else around here, but also convenient and entertaining.”

For a schedule of upcoming ELS classes, visit www.lifrc.org or call 468-4117.