CEO Now: Action-oriented skills for growth-minded owners

CEO Now: Action-oriented skills for growth-minded owners

For business owners with limited time, every hour spent away from daily operations must deliver real value. CEO Now, an investment from Hennepin County, was built with that reality in mind. It’s a cohort program designed for action so leaders leave each session with tools they can use immediately.

As facilitator Jodi Standke puts it, “I'm a good Midwesterner. I don't like to waste money or monkey around. I want to do things that are usable and that make a real difference.”

That philosophy shapes every aspect of CEO Now, a cohort from Elevate Hennepin designed for owners who are beyond the startup stage, those who have real traction but also real growing pains. The program gives entrepreneurs concrete, practical skills in finance, hiring, marketing, leadership, and strategy specific to each business and owner.

Every session builds toward clarity and momentum, and participants leave with a three-year growth plan, new knowledge, and a network of peers to lean on for the long term. Many graduates continue meeting with their peer groups years later, sharing referrals, solving problems together, and strengthening one another’s businesses long after the program ends.

Jodi says CEO Now distinguishes itself from similar training programs by bringing innovated newly tested frameworks and strategies to small business owners, to help leaders see from a different perspective. These strategies and exercises help reveal obstacles that would otherwise stay hidden and drain time, energy, and limited resources.

Jodi said one business owner’s experience illustrates just how practical and time-saving these insights can be. She had purchased a long-established company facing industry upheaval and, after three years of “struggle after struggle,” assumed her team was holding the business back.

A tested exercise shifted her perspective and revealed something entirely different. The team was behind her completely, but they didn’t know what she wanted them to do.

Seeing her business from this new vantage point gave her clarity that months of meetings and adjustments hadn’t produced. Instead of replacing staff, she started acting more like a leader than a peer, set expectations, and the business moved forward.

“It totally changed the course of her business,” said Jodi, adding that many owners lean on these strategies to unlock new revenue streams or knock down long-term roadblocks in their business.

This is the essence of CEO Now: insights that save time, tools that solve real problems, and a peer group that sharpens thinking and accelerates progress. It is built for owners who want to do things differently, build traction and create immediate results for operating their businesses.