After leaving a corporate job, Kim Osterhoudt was wondering what she would do next.

"A good friend of mine said "What do you really want to do?" Osterhoudt said.

Osterhoudt, of Hillsborough, thought of something she knew she could do, and enjoys doing - making jams and jellies.

With seed money and small business management training provided by New Brunswick's own The Intersect Fund, Osterhoudt was able to launch "Jams by Kim" and now sells her homemade creations through a website and at holiday boutiques and craft fairs around New Jersey.

Osterhoudt's success has been such that the founders of the Intersect Fund named her the organization's "Entrepreneur of the Year" for 2011.

The award is given to small businesses involved with the Intersect Find that not only provide a high quality product, but also show potential for growth in sales, run their business properly and are willing to help other entrepreneurs.

She also teaches a class on cooking with jam in the New Brunswick area.

The Intersect Fund provides resources and assistance to entrepreneurs like Osterhoudt, providing small business management training and grants for them to take their small business to the next level.

Headquartered in New Brunswick, the organization was started by Joe Shure and Rohan Matthew, two Rutgers University alumni without any formal training in business.

Since the organization's inception, they have worked with more than 200 small business owners and given out 80 micro-loans totaling approximately $90,000 Shure told New Brunswick Patch earlier this year.

The Intersect Fund gets its funding from private donors and corporate grants, Shure said, with a bit of additional funding coming from the government.

Almost all the loans given out are to fund a piece of equipment, Shure said - a hot dog cart, for example.

The organization's 'Entrepreneur University' is described on the Intersect Fund's website as "An eight-week boot camp that teaches you how to build a strong business."

The University is available to applicants for either $250 or $400, depending on their household income.

At a recent Gourmet Food & Art Expo, where Osterhoudt's jams and jellies were sold along with other local peddlers of homemade pickles, spiced nuts, chocolates and baked goods, Faith Saunders of "Keepsakes By Faith, LLC" said the benefit of being involved with the Intersect Fund has been the exposure.

Saunders, of Franklin Township, designs stationary and greeting cards. The Intersect Fund craft expos have assisted in bringing the small business businesses out to meet the public, she said.

For future Intersect Fund Gourmet Food & Art Expo dates, click here.