The College of Southern Maryland and the Small Business Development Center will host the 2016 Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summit on the college’s La Plata Campus.
In today’s business environment, innovation is determining the way business is being conducted. The daylong summit Thursday, Sept. 8, will explore ideas needed to accelerate innovative thinking in the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and examine what drives innovation, business growth and technology commercialization.
The summit will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Center for Business and Industry (BI Building), La Plata Campus, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata.
Speakers will include Don Macke, co-founder and director of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and Carol Kraus Lauffer, a recognized expert, consultant and trainer in business incubation and acceleration.
Macke, who has nearly 40 years of community and economic development and policy experience, helps communities and regions throughout North America grow entrepreneur-focused economic development strategies. He works with a group of strategic partners across the country to deliver customized economic development solutions. He will discuss “Defining an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.”
Lauffer, as a partner at Business Cluster Development (BCD) for nearly 15 years, consults with universities and colleges, communities, economic development organizations, industry organizations and corporations on the planning and creation of successful business incubation, acceleration and technology commercial programs. BCD is an industry leader, assisting with the development of more than 70 best practices incubation programs across the United States. Before joining BCD, Lauffer managed Panasonic’s corporate, venture-backed incubator in Silicon Valley, and was a principal in Panasonic Ventures. She has about 30 years of experience in economic development. She will discuss “Tech Commercialization and Incubators.”
There will be several break-out sessions during the day on topics such as solving the region’s social and economic challenges with facilitator Angela Singleton, community readiness with facilitator Kim Mozingo, opportunities for bringing research and inventions to market with facilitator Gary Evans, exploring the business development model that would work best for the region with facilitator Lynn Reed Selby, sustainability with facilitator Angela Thornton, director of CSM’s Corporate Center, and identifying and leveraging the role of the education and the research community with facilitator Thomas Luginbill, director of CSM’s Entrepreneur and Innovation Institute.
The SBDC promotes and supports entrepreneurship throughout the region. The SBDC helps the region’s small businesses succeed by providing high-quality, confidential consulting, cost-effective training and valuable business resources. It is part of a national SBDC network, founded in 1979, that helps more than 500,000 U.S. businesses each year.
The focus of the SBDC is to provide information and guidance for entrepreneurs to help them utilize effective strategies, initiate start-up or manage growth. Through various workshops, training sessions, and one-on-one expert counseling available throughout the region, the CSM SBDC assists more than 400 clients each year. Of those, approximately 250 are existing businesses.
Information on SBDC can be found at www.marylandsbdc.org. To register for the Sept. 8 summit, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-entrepreeurship-innovation-summit-tickets-26956022188 or call 301-934-7583.
Calendar
CSM/SBDC Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summit 2016. 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sept. 8. College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Small Business Development Center will convene industry, education, government, and research and scientific community for a conversation about the region?s preparedness to support entrepreneurial innovations, start-up technology efforts and transfer of scientific research for technology available for commercial use. www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-entrepreeurship-innovation-summit-tickets-26956022188, 301-934-7583.