Iowa State’s College of Business is hard at work getting a new program off the ground.

The Cooperative Business Institute was supposed to start this year. However, program director Sam DeMarie ultimately decided to delay the start of the program until August 2011.

“We had hoped to launch it this month, but our target market needed a longer lead time to clear schedules for participants of the program,” DeMarie said.

The CBI is a seven-month integrative program designed to better its participants’ business management and strategic leadership skills.

DeMarie hopes the program will shape managers who after the program will be set to lead the Grain and Farm Cooperatives.

“The purpose of the program is to provide formal business training to Cooperative Industry managers,” he said. “Most of these people have formal training or education in specific technical areas related to agriculture, but as they progress in their careers, they are asked to lead complicated, and relatively large, business units.”

Only 25 participants at a time will be able to participate in the CBI, which will have four two-day sessions presented in Gerdin. The program is not limited to ISU business students.

Participants will study subjects such as teams and leadership; influencing and motivating people; mergers, acquisitions and industry consolidation; capital investments and financial planning.

Look for the program to start next fall.