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UNCG BRYAN SCHOOL MAJOR SPONSOR OF STATEWIDE ENTREPRENEURIAL SUMMIT 2008
On February 26, 2008, the third statewide Entrepreneurial Summit was held at the Greensboro Coliseum. This was the first time this event was held outside of the triangle. The target audience for this event was economic developers, politicians, and major influencers within communities. The idea of hosting this event in the Triad was a joint effort between the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and UNCG’s Bryan School. The chamber had the responsibility of logistics and the Bryan School was responsible for the budget, fundraising, and obtaining keynote speaker.
The event was attended by 435 people. The survey shows that the event was successful. 91% rated the Entrepreneurial Summit as having valuable content. Of those who heard keynote speaker Nido Qubein, 96% enjoyed his presentation. The regional showcase of the Piedmont Triad Region led by Michael and Ramona Woods of Ashtae Products, scored 89% as to increasing the audience awareness of entrepreneurial activity in the Region. Also the packet of information given out at check-in rated 89% as to being useful. In obtaining diversity among speakers, the rating was 91%.
Fund raising was successful as $93,530 (cash and in-kind) was raised against a goal of $60,000. In cash only, $71,530 was raised. Contributors of $2,500 or more are as follows: Piedmont Triad Partnership Wired Initiative, NC Rural Center, Ashtae Products, Greensboro Partnership, Time Warner Cable Business Class, Touchstone Energy, UNC Bryan School, NC Department of Commerce, BELL-UNCG, Business Leader Magazine, Business NC Magazine, Eastern Region Partnership, Gateway University Park, UNC Chapel Hill, UNCG Research @Public/Private Partnerships, and United Healthcare. Attendance receipts were short of goal of $40,000 by about $17,000. Expenses were below forecast. Final numbers are not yet available, but more than $30,000 should be available for the next summit in 2010.
Interest in hosting the next summit appears to be focused more in the Eastern Region. Letters of interest were received from Elizabeth State University, UNC-Wilmington, and the South Brunswick Inlands Community of 100.
For further information, please contact Tom May, Assistant to the Dean for Economic Initiatives, Joseph M. Bryan School, 336-256-0111 or http//BryanEcoDev.uncg.edu