DETROIT—Wayne State University has added two more keynote speakers to a growing list of entrepreneurial experts for its upcoming event called E2detroit Entrepreneurship and Excellence Symposium. Former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and Florine Mark, President and CEO of The WW (Weight Watchers) Group, Inc., are on board for this premier entrepreneurial event to be held at Wayne State’s McGregor Conference Center on October 1 and 2, 2007.

E2detroit provides invaluable resources to entrepreneurs and small business owners by bringing together regional business leaders to share ideas about the tools and relationships necessary to launch and grow a successful business. In addition, E2detroit assists entrepreneurs in locating funding sources, qualified management and facilities for company operations.

Dennis Archer, currently a lawyer and chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC, will speak on small business growth, public office, law firms, and bringing the economy in Michigan and Detroit to great heights.

Archer was the first African American attorney to be elected to the position of president of the American Bar Association. Additionally, he was associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He is well-known for his commitment to restoring Detroit as a business center which is why he has seen the crucial importance of the efforts of Wayne State University and E2detroit.

Entrepreneur, motivational speaker and humanitarian, Florine Mark will speak on entrepreneurship and how she became one of the most successful business women in the country, as well as discuss her book Talk to the Mirror: Feel Great About Yourself Each and Every Day.

Mark started her business in Detroit in 1966 and consistently acquired franchises throughout the Midwest, East Coast, Canada and Mexico. Her company, The WW Group, Inc., became the largest franchise holder of Weight Watchers International. Mark sold some of these franchises in 2003 in a lucrative deal to Weight Watchers International, but she retained all operations in her home state of Michigan, as well as in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Mark continues to share her business expertise as an advisor, advocate, board member and committee chair of countless civic organizations in areas of health, nutrition, women, cultural concerns, business, entrepreneurship and community revitalization.

The host of E2detroit, Wayne State University Venture Development Office, works with faculty, staff, students, and alumni to leverage Wayne State innovations and create early-stage technology companies. The goal of the Venture Development Office is to establish the tools and relationships necessary to launch a successful business. Judy Johncox is the current WSU Venture Development Office Director and has brought countless companies to market.

Registration for E2detroit is $195 for business professionals and $25 for students. To register or for more information, visit www.e2detroit.com or call (248) 275-1130.

Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.