The North Olympic Development Council announced the return to Clallam County of a 10-week business planning class designed to help local entrepreneurs evaluate and plan for a business start-up or expansion.

Classes begin Tuesday, March 5, and continue for 10 weeks, meeting 6- 8:30 p.m. each Tuesday at the Lower Elwha Klallam Heritage Center, 401 E. First St., Port Angeles.

The class is designed to take entrepreneurs through all aspects of owning and growing a business, including legal structure, targeting and marketing to customers, cash flow projections, funding sources and accessing capital.

With one or two key topics addressed each week, organizers say participants will learn from experts and have interactive discussions with presenters and peers. At the end of the class, participants will have a completed business plan to help them implement their idea and communicate their goals to outside supporters and funders.

Tuition is $240 per business, which includes a business planning workbook.

To register, go to www.brownpaper tickets.com/event/4070539.

Sponsorships are being sought for scholarships for entrepreneurs who successfully complete the course. For information about becoming a sponsor, contact Karen Affeld at 360-477-1593 or karen@noprcd.org.

“Because our mission is to empower the North Olympic Peninsula to pursue and invest in its own economic and environmental destiny, we are delighted to offer a class that gives local entrepreneurs the tools they need to be successful,” Karen Affeld, Executive Director of the North Olympic Development Council, said.

The course instructor is Jim Williams, an ex-Arthur Andersen management consultant, former Senior Consultant/Managing Director for WDHB Consulting Group and a Small Business Development business consultant. He was owner of Best Friend Nutrition, a health food store for pets in Sequim, for 14 years until he sold the business in 2017.

Williams teaches a similar class at the Jefferson EDC in Port Townsend.

This year’s class was made possible with financial support from the Port of Port Angeles and Craft3, a non-bank community lender serving Oregon and Washington.

The North Olympic Development Council is a collaborative, innovative effort among member governments, educational and community organizations to advance economic, environmental and quality of life initiatives on the North Olympic Peninsula. The NODC is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that serves as the region’s economic development district. See www.noprcd.org.