Welcome to Entre
Entre: Noun: ahn-trey
1. abbrev. entrepreneur, 2. entrée, as in “the dish.”
Welcome to Entre: The way to connect to everything entrepreneur. Think of this site as your main course, an online regional resource. The info is organized into four sections (capital, incubators, advisory support and education). Click around. Bookmark us. Visit often.
Grand Rapids Teen Entrepreneur Academy: June 18-22
Monday June 18 to Friday June 22. GVSU Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy (TESA) is a program focused on growing awareness of small business and entrepreneurship opportunities in West Michigan. Students become aware of the wealth of resources available in West Michigan to assist young entrepreneurs in future business endeavors. The activities and curriculum are tied to the Career Pathways Program and National Entrepreneurship Education Standards.
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2011 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition
DeNovo Sciences claims $500,000 prize in the company competition, and "Are You a Human" claims $25,000 prize in student competition. Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business plan competition which highlights Michigan as a robust and vibrant venue for innovation and business opportunity. The competition fuels innovation-based business growth by uncovering the best and brightest new business concepts from local and global entrepreneurs, exposing those opportunities to potential investment capital and fostering their growth within Michigan.
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Lakeshore Teen Entrepreneur Academy: June 25-29
Monday June 25 to Friday June 29. GVSU Holland Meijer Campus. The Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy (TESA) is a program focused on growing awareness of small business and entrepreneurship opportunities in West Michigan. Students become aware of the wealth of resources available in West Michigan to assist young entrepreneurs in future business endeavors. The activities and curriculum are tied to the Career Pathways Program and National Entrepreneurship Education Standards.
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Students Pitch Ideas to Investors
CALEDONIA — Business students pitched their best ideas to simulated investors: a job-shadowing database, a snagged lure fishing retrieval system, a shirt that keeps elbow pads in place for hockey players and designer heating vents. Read more at the link below...
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2011 Thought Leaders in Entrepreneurship
As executive director of Grand Valley State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation since April, Kevin McCurren’s job is to champion entrepreneurship in West Michigan and help innovators commercialize their ideas... Follow the link below to read more.
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GLEQ Business Plan Competition
The Fall 2011 GLEQ Business Plan Competition opens August 22! Registration must be completed by October 21. Please visit website below.
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Student Entrepreneurs on Fox 17 News
2011 GVSU Business Plan Competition competitors Miles Smith with business, Simplistic Innovations, and Dan Greer with business, Invent Efficiency, appeared on Fox17 morning news to explain their entrepreneurial endeavors.
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Family Enterprise Research Conference
GRAND RAPIDS — The easy part may be starting a family business. Keeping it going gets a little tougher with each generation. The scions of some of West Michigan’s biggest family-owned businesses gathered Friday to share some of their secrets with scholars from around the world.
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Momentum Lean Startup Conference
The Michigan Lean Startup Conference will be held May 19 at Grand Valley State University’s Eberhard Center in downtown Grand Rapids. The day-long, single-track conference will feature national speakers and panel discussions. The conference will lead into the kick-off event for Momentum’s 2011 12-week seed accelerator program. Conference attendees and the public will be invited to meet and mingle with this year’s five startup companies, which Chocko expects will be chosen by early April.
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Startup Weekend: January 13-15
January 13-15, 2012. Event starts at 6pm on Friday at the Factory in Grand Rapids. Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects. It is known for its quick decisions, inventive problem solving, unique facilitation technique and letting the founders show what they can do. The program has already met with success in over 52 cities and 12 countries and growing! The participants that attend a Startup Weekend decide what they want to tackle over the weekend and come out at the end with several developed companies or projects. Attendees are responsible for bringing the same desire and passion to the project and walk out of the room with the task at hand, in a short 54 hours. Sound intense? It is.
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EPIC Awards 2011
Small Business of the Year: Swift Printing & Communications Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Ross Timyan, Crystal Clean Auto Detailing LLC Minority-Owned Business of the Year: Summit Landscape Management, Inc. Woman-Owned Business of the Year: Reagan Marketing + Design, LLC Non-Profit of the Year: The Right Place, Inc. Excellence in Business: Axios Incorporated
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GRACC Annual Meeting: January 24
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 @ 4-6pm. DeVos Place, 303 Monroe Ave. NW. The 2012 Annual Meeting will celebrate our members and all the ways Grand Rapids Business Rocks! You’ll hear from GR community and business leaders -- innovative people who are inspiring greatness in their organizations and the community as a whole. $50 member registration & $75 future member registration.
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Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year MI/OH Award
Detroit, June 10, 2011 — Ernst & Young LLP is pleased to announce the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2011 Michigan and Northwest Ohio Award winners. This group of leading entrepreneurs was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous winners of the award, leading CEOs, private capital investors and other regional business leaders. The winners were revealed at a gala event on June 9 at the MGM Grand Detroit. Read more...
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ACE Conference 2012: January 31
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 @ Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. More details coming soon. The Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship is the place where Great Lakes region entrepreneurs gather to network, learn, and connect. Each year at ACE, you'll join an exciting, forward-thinking community of innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders - people like you who have the vision and drive to build new ventures for a new future.
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GLEQ Competition Awards Night: January 31
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 @ Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. Awards for the 2011 GLEQ Business Plan Competition will be awarded at the Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship event.
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Savvy Entrepreneur Series: February 21
Tuesday, February, 21, 2012 at 5pm-8:30pm. Contact the GVSU Center for Entrepreneurship at 616-331-7582 for local webcast details. Angel Investors: What are they looking for, how are they different from venture capitalists and why use them? How do they think about valuation?
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GVSU Business Plan Competition: March 29
March 29, 2012 at 6pm in Loosemore Auditorium on the GVSU Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The Business Plan Competition serves to stimulate and nourish the student entrepreneurial spirit. It seeks to encourage entrepreneurially oriented graduate and undergraduate students, from any major, to take key steps toward developing and growing new business ventures.
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Savvy Entrepreneur Series: April 10
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 5pm-8:30pm. Contact the GVSU Center for Entrepreneurship at 616-331-7582 for local webcast details. Cash Flow: What is it and how can you maximize it and best practices on how to compensate the executive team to sustain it. Even if you have no cash yet, this is a top priority to understand early and manage well.
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Regional Business Plan Competition: April 10
6pm on Thursday, April 10, 2012 at Calvin College. The Regional Business Plan Competition puts the winners of local collegiate Business Plan Competitions in a tournament of champions. Contestants represent respective schools including Aquinas, Calvin, Cornerstone, Davenport, Hope, GRCC and Grand Valley -- member schools of the West Michigan Colleges and Universities Group. In the Regional Business Plan Competition, contestants will submit a written business plan and give a 10-minute pitch about their innovative venture to a panel of veteran judges. Winners can take home a total of $5,500 in seed capital, as well as in-kind prizes designed to help bring the startup company's product or service to market.
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Savvy Entrepreneur Series: May 8
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 5pm-8:30pm. Contact the GVSU Center for Entrepreneurship at 616-331-7582 for local webcast details. Developing a Milestone Based Capital Raising Plan: Learn how to develop a milestone based realistic fundraising plan that is critical to success for technology-based high growth companies.
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EPIC Awards: May 16
May 16, 2012. 5:30 pm Registration & Reception; 6:15 pm Awards Program. Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. This dinner and awards celebration is a combination of three events that have long been on the Chamber’s calendar: the Small Business Celebration, Minority Business Celebration and Salute to West Michigan Business. The EPIC Awards (which stands for Entrepreneurial, Progressive, Innovative and Collaborative) recognizes businesses and individuals that support the community, demonstrate growth, are innovative, and have worked with others as mentors and collaborators.
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