If you are a business owner struggling to break even, you may want to consider an opportunity to give your business a solid boost.

For the past 12 years, Napa Small Business Development Center has offered an exceptional training opportunity for existing and new businesses; a comprehensive business training program called NxLeveL.

NxLeveL is a 12-week, 40-hour program designed to help entrepreneurs grow and manage their business. The program has been adopted by the Association of Small Business Development Centers as a primary training program for businesses across the nation.

To date, more than 160,000 people have participated in NxLeveL’s entrepreneurial training programs. Around 5,000 certified training sites have been implemented in 47 states, seven countries, and in 700 communities.

The program helps entrepreneurs develop the blueprint for their future, provides interaction with other business owners and connects participants with the experts and information they need.

Some of Napa SBDC’s best success stories have come out of the NxLeveL program.

A third-party evaluation was commissioned to determine the economic impact of the NxLeveL. The results showed that after participants graduated, existing businesses experienced a 32 percent increase in gross sales within one year and created 1.3 new jobs. Graduates with smaller companies (annual gross sales less than $200,000) experienced an even more dramatic success rate with an average of over 200 percent increase in sales. With regard to business start-ups, 40 percent of participants start a business within one year after completing the course  When surveyed after three years, more than 93 percent of the businesses were still in operation, whereas the national average is a mere 16.5 percent.

“I see businesses poised to understand and grow their business in a way they had not thought possible before taking the NxLeveL course” says Charlie Monahan, interim director of NVC Small Business Development Center.

Napa and Solano College Small Business Development Centers have had notable success with the NxLeveL training program, serving more than 400 local businesses. In mid-September, the SBDCs will provide their 24th training series to Solano and Napa businesses.

 NxLevel participants pay a set fee of $275 and $100 for materials. Each week, business owners will focus on one section of their business plan.

Guest speakers will be brought in each week to provide practical information on business topics. In addition, each participant will be assigned a SBDC advisor to help apply the concepts they learn in class to their businesses. At the end of the program, participants will have a well-developed business plan which they present to the class.

To learn more about the NxLeveL Entrepreneurial Training Program, a free orientation will be offered at the Napa SBDC at 1556 First St. in downtown Napa, on Tuesday, 6-7:30 p.m. To reserve a seat at the orientation, call 253-3210.

For more information visit http://napasbdc.org/NxLeveL_Program