More than 1,000 people registered for the June 24 and July 25 FastTrac to the Future conferences, designed to give budding entrepreneurs resources and guidance to help them create successful companies. Of those who attended the first two conferences, 500 have been enrolled in intensive entrepreneurial training programs in Southeast Michigan.
This historic entrepreneurship initiative unfolding in the heart of the Motor City may become a model that cities nationwide can replicate to spur America's economic recovery over the next decade. Funded May 18, 2009 by the New Economy Initiative in partnership with the Kansas City-based Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation, FastTrac to the Future aims to enroll an estimated 800 individuals annually in FastTrac® training programs, creating 1,200 new startups over three years.
FastTrac® is a premiere business development program that has been operating for 15 years. More than 300,000 participants throughout the United States have been through the program. FastTrac® is comprised of quick, intensive 3-to-10 week training initiatives for unemployed or underemployed individuals seriously considering entrepreneurship instead of finding another job.
The August 18 conference is from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the McGregor Memorial Conference Center on Wayne State University campus. The program features breakout sessions that will give guidance and free resources to people who think entrepreneurship might be right for them. This includes displaced workers, the unemployed and people looking for alternative employment options.
Renowned entrepreneur and bestselling author Christopher Gardner will be the keynote speaker at the event again. Gardner is the owner and CEO of the brokerage firm Gardner Rich LLC with offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Conquering grave challenges to become a successful entrepreneur, Gardner is an avid motivational and inspirational speaker, addressing the keys to overcoming obstacles and breaking cycles.
Gardner is the author of the 2006 autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, a New York Times and Washington Post #1 bestseller that has been translated into 14 languages. He recently published his second book, Start Where You Are.
This conference includes a highly interactive session called "Roadmap to Your Entrepreneurial Adventure," where every attendee will have the chance to pitch his or her idea to an expert in a relaxed, informal setting and get guidance on entrepreneurial training programs that best suit the individual's needs.
Local and national experts will discuss the challenges of starting a new business in 12 different session topics on entrepreneurship. These include:
- Intellectual Property Dos and Don'ts
- Organization Expo-Providing introductions to existing entrepreneurial programs in the community, including the SBTDC, TechTown, FastTrac®, Automation Alley and more
- What's Your Role in a Startup?
- Money Tables-Providing information on bootstrapping, raising money, and grants, plus a roundtable discussion on funding your idea
Attendees will have the opportunity to sign up that day for the award-winning FastTrac® programs. Three FastTrac® programs, which will be delivered over several weeks, will be available locally immediately following the event:
- First Step FastTrac ®-The desired outcome of this program is a written feasibility plan that helps you determine if your idea can be turned into a profitable business, and whether the life of an entrepreneur is right for you.
- FastTrac® NewVenture®-Designed specifically for entrepreneurs in the early stages of business development, this program helps you uncover answers and determine which questions to ask.
- FastTrac® TechVenture®-Take an analytical look at your business and discover what you need to consider in starting, operating, funding or growing a technology- or life sciences-based company.
An agenda and a complete list of breakout session topics and speakers can be found at http://wayne.edu/fasttrac/.
The community is pulling together to help refocus the talents of the unemployed and underemployed. FastTrac to the Future events are managed by TechTown. Support for this event is provided by Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, BBC etc., Bizdom U, Crain's Detroit Business, Detroit Micro-Enterprise Fund, Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest, Entrepreneurial Initiative of Southeast Michigan, MichBio, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center, Microsoft BizSpark, MIT Forum, the New Enterprise Forum, NextEnergy, Oakland County, SCORE, ShoreBank Enterprise, TIE-Detroit and Wayne State University.
The Kauffman Foundation is a key partner in FastTrac to the Future, providing resources and speakers for the event.
ABOUT THE NEW ECONOMY INITIATIVE FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
The New Economy Initiative is one of the nation's most expansive philanthropic partnerships dedicated to economic transformation in the region hardest hit by manufacturing job loss and the global economic crisis. NEI includes $100 million in funding commitments from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (Detroit), the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation (Southfield, Mich.), the Ford Foundation (New York), the Hudson-Webber Foundation (Detroit), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Battle Creek, Mich.), the John S. and James L .Knight Foundation (Miami), The Kresge Foundation (Troy, Mich.), the McGregor Fund (Detroit), the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Flint, Mich.), and the Skillman Foundation (Detroit). The 10 participating foundations are leading the implementation and governance of the Initiative. The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, which initiated the collaborative, is serving as its administrative home.
ABOUT TECHTOWN
TechTown is an urban community of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and corporate partners creating an internationally influential village in Detroit. TechTown brings the resources of Wayne State University to high-technology startup companies so as to diversify and strengthen Michigan's economy in high-growth emerging industries. For more information, visit www.techtownwsu.org.
ABOUT THE KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets.