For at least three years, you showed up—month after month—not just to grow your business, but to support one another through the real, unfiltered work of entrepreneurship. That commitment matters. The relationships you built matter. And the results you achieved together matter deeply.
As Entrepreneurs Forever transitions long-tenured members into alumni status, we want to clearly explain why this step is necessary, what it represents, and how it honors—not ends—your place in this community.
The results of your alumni cohort are extraordinary—not just by “nonprofit” standards, but by any national benchmark.
On average, our Western Pennsylvania alumni members achieved:
Nationally, most small businesses grow just 2-3% per year - often without ever hiring. Your cohort proved something different:
Long-term, structured peer learning changes the trajectory of small businesses.
This is not theoretical. It is measurable. And it is now influencing how entrepreneurship support is being reimagined across the country.
Entrepreneurs Forever was first launched and refined in Western Pennsylvania. Since then, pilot programs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York have reinforced what you helped us learn.
To fulfill our mission at scale, our facilitators must continually engage new, earlier-stage businesses—starting them on the same journey you’ve already traveled.
This is the heart of why graduation matters.
Entrepreneurs Forever is now actively working with local, regional, and national partners and ecosystem leaders to expand the scope and scale of this model in the communities we serve now and across the United States—making the kind of success you experienced accessible to thousands more small business owners both in your community and nationally.
Graduation is not a loss of community—it is how community multiplies.
The only organization in the country laser-focused on providing long-term peer learning for existing, growth-ready small businesses under $1 million in revenue.
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Your graduation is proof that the model works.
While your facilitated peer group has concluded, your relationship with Entrepreneurs Forever has not.
As an alumnus, you continue to have access to:
Ongoing recognition through newsletters, showcases, and storytelling
Send your news to programs@e4ever.org
We are actively building alumni programming because your experience and leadership matter.
We know this transition can feel bittersweet.
Strong peer groups create:
Letting go of a formal structure does not diminish those bonds—but it does change them. That change can be hard, even when it’s the right thing.
And here is the deeper truth:
If we hold on too tightly, we prevent others from beginning.
Our mission requires us to release alumni not because they are no longer needed—but because they are now strong enough to lead beyond us.
We love our members.
We celebrate their success.
We challenge them to keep growing.
And we ask them—when ready—to help others access what they once needed.
To accomplish our mission at the largest possible scale, we must be willing and able to let our 3+ year alumni lead the small business sector.
You are not stepping away from Entrepreneurs Forever.
You are stepping forward as proof of what it makes possible.
Helping small business owners build confidence, competence, and sustainable growth through peer learning and shared problem solving.
Entrepreneurs Forever is the flagship program of the Mansmann Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, a public charity.
