Economic Gardening Round Table

Date/Time
Date(s) - 15 Nov 2011
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

What does it take to grow strong and vibrant companies in Arizona’s economic garden?

Two key components are

a support system for entrepreneurs
the capital to fuel growth.

Join AZBio, ATIF, and the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation at Gateway Community College for a special roundtable discussion on economic gardening.

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Time: 1 PM – 3 PM

Location: GateWay Community College | 108 N. 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ | Health Sciences Auditorium (Room CH 1106)

Cost: Complimentary with registration.

Click here to register

Join us at the table for an interactive discussion on what it takes with:

Marianne Hudson, the Angel Capital Association

Marianne leads two nonprofit organizations: the Angel Capital Association (ACA), the professional alliance of angel groups in North America, with 20 affiliates and 150 member groups representing 6,500 individual accredited investors, and the Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF), which provides information, education, and research about angel investing to investors, policy makers, university leaders, entrepreneurial support professionals, and entrepreneurs. ACEF was founded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2005 and spun out of Kauffman as an independent charitable organization in March, 2007. Ms. Hudson led the angel initiative at the Kauffman Foundation that resulted in ACEF and also oversaw many of the Foundation’s entrepreneurial education and mentoring programs designed to ensure that more entrepreneurs develop sustainable, innovative businesses.

Jim Goulka, ATIF (Arizona Technology Investors Forum)

Jim Goulka serves as Managing Director for ATIF. Jim is a serial entrepreneur who leads the substantial reshaping of early stage and established middle market companies focused on intellectual property and content delivery. He has led enterprise transformations and nurtured early stage organizations in the software and publishing industries, in technology transfer, and in the not-for-profit sector. He has served as CEO, COO, CFO, advisor, board member, educator and corporate finance banker to private equity firms and global companies.

Jerry Ross, National Entrepreneur Center

Jerry is an experienced entrepreneur and businessman whose two decades of experience include leadership positions with AT&T, Ohio Bell, and Goal Systems Software. His local entrepreneurial ventures include Sky-Tracker of Florida, Semco Properties and Maverick Business Magazine. Jerry was selected in a nationwide search to become the Executive Director of the National Entrepreneur Center located in Orlando, Florida. The Entrepreneur Center is a unique public/private partnership, and is home to 11 business support organizations who are dedicated to the development and growth of businesses throughout Florida. He has an MBA from Dayton University and is a Certified Business Consultant from the University of Central Florida and he calls Orlando home. The NEC is getting results by it’s unique style of collaboration including: $125,000,000 in loans facilitated, 70,000 business coached and trained, 700 new business start-ups.

Russ Yelton, NACET and CEI

Russ is President/CEO of NACET (the Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology) and Special Advisior to CEI (the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation). Russ is a serial entrepreneur who, besides starting various companies, has been in incubation management for more than five years. In his previous career he worked with a community college to convert an abandoned 141,000 sq ft manufacturing facility into a mixed use incubator consisting of an FDA approved commercial food kitchen, biotechnology research labs, light manufacturing and executive offices. The program also developed agreements with seven incubators in six foreign countries which lead to its recognition by the National Business Incubation Association as the second most innovative program in the world in 2008. Yelton has served as both President and Vice-President of the North Carolina Business Incubation Association, Chair of the Mountain South Incubator Alliance and currently serves on the board of directors of the National Business Incubation Association as well as several others.

Joan Koerber-Walker, OTEF and AZBio

Joan will moderate our afternoon round table discussion. As President/CEO of AZBio (the Arizona BioIndustry Association) and chair of OTEF (the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation), Joan’s teams are dedicated to growing a strong and sustainable economic garden here in Arizona. An entrepreneur, investor, and former Fotune 500 executive, she has previously served as CEO of ASBA (the Arizona Small Business Association) and on the board of trustees of the National Small Business Association in Washington, D.C.