NEVADA CITY, Calif., Sept. 1, 2026 — Sierra Commons will begin its fall Business Ignitor Course on Sept. 8 at the Nevada County Campus of Sierra College, pairing classroom instruction with free one-on-one advising, peer mentoring and an ongoing network of local entrepreneurs.
The program is designed as a system, not a series of lectures. Each participant receives free one-on-one advising through Sierra Commons’ partnership with the Sierra Small Business Development Center, works alongside a cohort that meets twice weekly, and joins a community of graduates that has grown since the program launched in 2010. Advising relationships often continue long after the final session.
The course runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. through Oct. 22. Students are encouraged to attend in person and videoconference participation is available.
Working practitioners teach sessions. Panda Morgan, a serial entrepreneur and former director of the Sacramento Small Business Development Center (SBDC), covers entity formation, hiring, and owner compensation. Michael C. Mapes, a Grass Valley attorney, addresses business law and risk management. Ken Krugler, founder of AI for Community and a former Apple employee who worked on the original Macintosh, teaches practical uses of artificial intelligence for small businesses. Lisa Chacón, co-founder of the Impact Hub Oakland co-working space for social entrepreneurs, leads sessions on customer discovery and the foundations of finance. Mike Mooers, a copywriter whose clients have included Arc’teryx, KEEN and Hydro Flask, leads a two-part session on web presence and copywriting. Robert Trent, founder and executive director of Sierra Commons, facilitates the course.
“The presenters made the varied topics approachable and interesting. Each brought their own expertise and was genuinely willing to share,” one graduate said. “They didn’t make it seem easy. They made it seem doable.”
Responding to feedback from previous cohorts, the fall session adds more structured time for peer support and resource sharing, including a midcourse review and a dedicated week for students to work with their Small Business Development Center advisors before final presentations. The course concludes Oct. 22 with a student showcase and graduation party open to the community.
Small businesses are the heartbeat of the rural economy in Nevada County and the surrounding area. They hire locally, keep dollars in the community and give the region its character. Sierra Commons works to ensure that people who want to build those businesses are not shut out by cost. Scholarships are awarded to applicants who would otherwise be unable to afford tuition and the organization prioritizes access for people across a range of backgrounds and abilities.
Two scholarships remain for the fall cohort. Registration is open at sierracommons.org/business-ignitor, where scholarship application details are posted in the FAQ.
About Sierra Commons
Sierra Commons is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurial communities and supporting small business development throughout Northern California. Through education, mentorship, accelerator programs, and business support services, Sierra Commons helps entrepreneurs launch, grow, and sustain successful businesses that contribute to thriving local economies.