A recent push in Spokane to grow more business leaders is taking shape at both ends of the career spectrum, from a Catholic Charities program aimed at helping residents who face steep barriers start a business, to a peer advisory group helping CEOs scale their companies to the next level.

The Spokane Entrepreneur & Empowerment Network, or SEEN, program, led through a partnership between Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, Gonzaga University, and the University of Notre Dame, will debut next month with a 50-person pilot, pairing aspiring small business owners—many who are low-income, in recovery, or reentering the workforce after incarceration—with seasoned mentors, business students, and startup funding.

At the same time, longtime entrepreneur and coach Richard Johnson is forming a new Spokane chapter of Vistage Worldwide Inc., an international CEO peer advisory network, to offer established business leaders a confidential space to share challenges and sharpen their growth strategies.

Mike Roden, the executive director of the Catholic Charities program, says that while the organization is seen as a charity of handouts—for example food banks or the House of Charity—it is always looking for ways to also provide a “hand up” to the population it serves.

“We provide the roof over their head, we provide food when they are hungry,” Roden says. “Let’s provide the hand up to give them the skills to stand on their own two feet and thrive and fulfill a personal dream and provide for their family.”

Separately, Johnson says that while Spokane has had a Vistage CEO peer advisory group since 2016, it has been full and closed off to new members for years now. Launching a new group fills a capacity gap and meets what he sees as a hunger for growth-focused leadership circles in the region.

“I have always believed that the value in what we do is elevating other people,” says Johnson, who is a former Vistage member. “I wanted to see other businesses see the success I saw, and Spokane needed more capacity for that.”

Though they target very different audiences, both initiatives are built on the same idea: business growth is faster—and more sustainable—when it’s supported with resources.

The two programs join a growing ecosystem within the Inland Northwest that aims to give entrepreneurs across all levels the guardrails, funding, space, and mentorship to lift their budding startups off the ground or reach the next level of their company’s growth. Such resources include organizations and programs like Leadership Spokane, Ignite Northwest, and StartUp Spokane, as well as coworking spaces, for example Fuel, in downtown Spokane, and Burbity Workspaces, in Spokane Valley.  

SEEN program

For Catholic Charities and Gonzaga University, that means opening the door to entrepreneurship for residents who have been traditionally shut out of it.

Launching Sept. 6, the SEEN program kicks off a six-week boot camp covering everything from bookkeeping basics to supply chain engagement, social media branding, and nontraditional funding, says Roden. Discussing alternatives to traditional forms of funding is important, especially for this population, as most of them are not likely to walk into a bank and be given a loan, he notes.

“The six-week boot camp is the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship,” Roden says. “First, it’s recognizing the role entrepreneurship has in our economy, but also in local communities and our region that drives community identity and cultural identity.”

Participants in the Spokane pilot were selected from nearly 100 applicants referred through nonprofit and community partners, Roden says. Many are low-income, in recovery, or overcoming other financial hurdles. SEEN’s goal, Roden says, is to turn their ideas—from food trucks to flower shops to in-home cosmetology—into viable, sustainable businesses.

The boot camp is just the first step in the program. Boot camp graduates are then paired with industry-specific mentors for four to six months. Students from Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program—a competitive three-year honors track program—will partner directly with participants during a mentorship phase and will work alongside them on three concrete deliverables, such as a business plan, a marketing strategy, or a website launch. At the end of the program, eligible participants can apply for a $3,000 microgrant to cover start-up costs, such as equipment purchases or loan close-out fees.

Gonzaga senior Maeve Roberts, who is double-majoring in public relations and entrepreneurship, says the opportunity is unlike anything she’s done in the classroom.

“This is the first time I’ll get to work with an actual entrepreneur and go through this consulting program. That is something that has not been done before,” Roberts says. “I’m confident that all of these students are qualified to help these entrepreneurs, and it just seems like the perfect connection.”

Roden says Gonzaga University faculty members will also serve as subject matter experts during the boot camp, and the university’s business school will oversee the student consulting projects to ensure each entrepreneur leaves with tangible tools they can use.

The program is modeled after the Urban Poverty & Business Initiative from the University of Notre Dame, which is credited with helping launch dozens of small businesses in struggling communities across the country.

Roden says a Notre Dame alum and Catholic Charities donor had attended a seminar led by the initiative’s founder, was awestruck by the program, and saw how it could fit in Spokane.

“He thought, what a beautiful program, look at the outcomes, this makes sense for Spokane,” Roden says. “It’s the right time for Spokane and the right time for a university like Gonzaga, which has an established entrepreneurship program to support the outreach of an organization like Catholic Charities. He brought it back to our CEO and Gonzaga, and they fell in love with the idea as quickly as he pitched it.”

Roden says the organization hasn’t rejected any applicants. Those who can’t join the initial pilot program will be offered a seat in the following cohort in spring 2026, he says.

Vistage

While SEEN focuses on breaking down barriers for those taking their very first steps into business ownership, Johnson’s Vistage group works at the other end of the spectrum—with leaders already at the helm of their own business. Whether it’s a one-person startup or a 200-person business, Johnson says, the right circle of peers can sharpen your decisions and accelerate your growth.

For Johnson, the appeal of launching a new Vistage group in Spokane isn’t just about filling a gap in the market; it’s also about giving chief executives a place they can truly talk, he says.

“It can become very lonely at the top,” Johnson says. “And feeling like you need to provide and meet everyone’s needs, so who do you turn to?”

Vistage, a San Diego-based CEO peer advisory network, established a Spokane chapter in 2016, but the group has been at capacity, which prompted Johnson to curate this new group, bringing in leaders from noncompeting industries who are focused on growth, he says.  

Each month, a member hosts the group at their workplace, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their operations before diving into a “how to hurt your business” exercise—a frank, peer-led way to spot vulnerabilities and strengthen systems. These gatherings, he says, blend candid peer discussion with presentations from expert speakers and deep-dive exercises designed to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities. 

According to company data, Vistage members grow their businesses at more than twice the industry average, a gap that widened during the pandemic when the average business declined 4.6% while Vistage members grew 4.7%.

Johnson, who is a contractor for the organization, speaks from experience. As a former nonprofit executive, he joined the Vistage group in Boise more than a decade ago. The advice and perspective he gained there, he says, helped him build and sell a software company used by car washes worldwide within 18 months. The experience transformed his career.

“That was a great experience,” he says. “And in selling that business, I was given the option of choosing what I want to do next.”

Johnson says he considered consulting or coaching and decided he really wanted to coach people. He wasn’t looking to “reinvent the wheel,” he says; he knew that Vistage worked, since it helped transform him from a nonprofit leader to a millionaire.