February 26, 2012
By Emily Lowrey, MCP editor
The White House Urban Economic Forum is coming to Birmingham on Monday, March 5th for an all-day summit that will include discussions, workshops and one-on-one mentoring sessions to address the needs of urban entrepreneurs. Mayor William Bell made the announcement this past Wednesday at Innovation Depot, a business incubator located in Birmingham’s economic development zone. Innovation Depot has won numerous international awards for its model providing office and conference space, and business support services to its more than 80 tenant companies.
In addition to Birmingham, Urban Economic Forums are planned or have already been held in Columbus, Detroit, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and New York City.
Who should attend?
Entrepreneurs (including pre start-up stage), civic/community leaders and students are invited to attend the summit. Space, of course, is limited, and registration is required. The event is free.
The summit will include high-level discussions between senior White House and Administration officials and successful entrepreneurs; speed mentoring sessions with experienced entrepreneurs; dedicated networking opportunities; and a resource expo designed to connect entrepreneurs with the public, non-profit and private sector resources to help them grow and hire.
Entrepreneur participants are invited to sign up for one workshop (space is limited) and also for one-on-one mentoring:
- The ideal environment for urban entrepreneurship
- How do you start a business?
- Opportunities for women-owned businesses
- Getting capital to start your business
- Scaling your business
Links for entrepreneurs:
- Sign up to attend the summit.
- Main Street Birmingham is planning a social entrepreneur incubator in Woodlawn. Space will be available for lease this summer.
- Innovation Depot’s business technology incubator is taking applications for space.
- Shift Workspace is a co-working space in downtown Birmingham.
- Start-up Summit will be held on April 24 at WorkPlay. The summit is free, but space is limited and attendees are selected from the pool of applicants.
- Main Street Birmingham holds business essential skills courses and offer mentoring sessions.
- Birmingham Entrepreneur holds regular sessions and meetings for all stages of entrepreneurship (pre start-up to maturity).
- Start-up drinks allow for direct conversation with local entrepreneurs. All stages, including pre start-up are invited to attend). Held every 4th Tuesday from 5:30 – 7:30pm at Rogue Tavern.
- On March 23, TechMixer Unplugged will be held at Innovation Depot. The event is free and includes a QR code scavenger hunt.
- The SHE Network, a group of women entrepreneurs, have regular monthly mixers at the Wine Loft. Follow them on twitter for updates.
- Birmingham Angel Network accepts proposals and has pitches at their meetings. They are also accepting new investors.
- The Birmingham Venture Club has an Entrepreneur Accelerator Program and works to raise/provide additional capital to Birmingham companies. By invitation, they have 3-minute pitch sessions during their meetings.
- The Alabama District office for the U.S. Small Business Administration has tons of resources on their website.