Two grants totaling $246,476 have been awarded to Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship based on its success starting new local businesses.

The center was the only organization in Missouri to receive a grant from the Small Business Administration's Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME), and the only organization in the U.S. to receive two awards. This is the first year the center has received PRIME funding from the Small Business Administration.

A grant award of $148,912 will allow the center's staff to teach others how to implement successful training programs to help low-income entrepreneurs.

Its Operation Jump Start program will be a model for others in the eight-state Delta Regional Authority, said Dr. James Stapleton, center director.

Since it began in 2006, more than 750 people have completed the Center's Operation Jump Start program.

A total of 350 people have started new businesses after attending the Jump Start program and of those, 92 percent are still in business after two years, Stapleton said.

The Center's second grant award, $97,564, will provide technical assistance to help new businesses grow. These funds will help entrepreneurs with product development, market research and access to capital needed to take their businesses to the next level, Stapleton said.

Staff from the center will also go out into the 29-county region in Southeast Missouri it serves to provide one-on-one counseling to small business owners.