Owensboro entrepreneurs recognized

In this globally competitive marketplace, finding your niche is of vital importance. Owensboro natives and entrepreneurs Carter Gaddis and Neel Ford saw an opportunity and went for it. What they and their partners have created, the Sleeve360, allows iPad users to comfortably "wear" their iPad via a rear support strap that also allows the iPad to fully rotate for presentation, demonstration, or screen sharing. The applications are endless, but it is easy to see how such an innovation could be useful to the hospitality, restaurant and medical industries.

Now, their latest version for the iPad2 has been reviewed by one of the best Apple product websites out there, TUAW (the unauthorized apple weblog). In the website's ongoing "smackdown" series, which pits similar products against each other, TUAW proclaims the Sleeve360 as the "hands down" winner, stating that the "case is much easier to put on and take off, the rotation mechanism can be easily removed, and it the case really does work well as a stand in either portrait or landscape mode," and that it is "much more comfortable to wear." The full review can be read at http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/19/sleeve360-and-handstand-for-ipad-2-smackdown-of-the-rotating-ip/

Innovation is everywhere in this town, and it is precisely this type of fresh, global product, that will keep Owensboro competitive for years to come.

For more information on the Sleeve360, or to place an order, visit www.sleeve360.com.

Centre for Business and Research: Six month progress report

Last week economic development officials presented a status report to the Owensboro City Commission on the Centre for Business and Research, the 40,000 square foot business accelerator that opened last October.

In the six months since the facility opened, three tenants have moved into the Centre.  Additionally, the biotechnology lab used by industries and the Western Kentucky University biotech research program is opened. EDC Executive Vice President Madison Silvert is currently finalizing leases with three additional companies.  He projects that the Centre will have 8 to 10 companies occupying space by the end of 2011.

"At the current rate of growth the Centre will be near capacity by the end of 2012, a full three years ahead of schedule," said Silvert.  By the end of 2012 the Centre will generate a dollar in lease revenue for every dollar invested by the City for the project.  If occupational taxes of the new jobs, with an average salary of $95,000, in the building and net profit taxes for the new companies that locate there are factored in, the City will generate a positive return on their annual investment of $300,000 in very short order.

"Few investments in economic development provide as rapid a return on such a small investment," said EDC President/CEO Nick Brake.  "This project was originally proposed as a long-term endeavor.  We are very pleased with the initial results, but it is important to be patient and stay the course for the entire commitment of ten years," he said.

"While such a positive return in such a short time is nice, the ultimate goal of the project is to help form scalable companies that can grow and eventually locate in the region and employ several hundred people," said Silvert.  

Owensboro-Based Easy Wood Tools an Example of New Manufacturing Business Startup

After spending most of his life as a machinist cutting metal and plastics, Craig Jackson decided to try cutting wood.  He found the sharpening methods, angles and catches to be extremely annoying.  Jackson experimented with all different types and brands of tools and couldn't find what he was looking for.  He decided to combine his metal cutting experience with wood turning to develop a completely new wood turning system.  

After researching the best materials and testing several of his inventions, Jackson created a tool that met most all of his needs.  He developed a replaceable carbide cutter wood turning tool that cuts at a neutral angle, making it safer and easier to use.  Additionally, the blade can be rotated when one side gets dull and eventually replaced which eliminates the need for sharpening.  Jackson has since developed six new tools and has a patent pending on several of these inventions.

Jackson and his wife, Donna, intended to operate the business part time but soon realized there was enough demand to make it their full time jobs.  They worked with several staff members at Emerging Ventures, including Lois Decker with the Small Business Development Center located in the Commerce Center for assistance in putting their financial data into a cohesive format.

"The manufacturing side of the business is easy.  The hard part is the accounting and taxes and making sure we are operating efficiently," said Donna Jackson.  "The SBDC helped us with these tasks and was a great sounding board when we were trying to determine the best avenues for financing."

Easy Wood Tools' clients range from hobbyists and professional wood turners.  They have over 100 retailers selling their products and have sold tools to customers in 15 different countries.    For more information on the company please visit their website http://easywoodtools.com/.

"Own Your Own Business” workshop provides the basics for prospective entrepreneurs

The Owensboro chapter of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and the eMERGING VENTURES Center for Innovation are sponsoring a two-night workshop called “Owning Your Own Business” on Monday,
March  29th and Tuesday, March 30th.  The workshop is a great opportunity for anyone interested in starting a business.  Key subjects to be covered include licensing and permitting requirements, legal issues, accounting and
financial matters, and insurance needs.  Preparing a business plan and discovering the personal factors that one should consider before starting a business will also be covered. "Social Networking" as a part of a marketing plan also will be discussed.

All topics will be taught by local professionals using the SCORE curriculum which has helped thousands of start-up businesses across the United States.  SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the U.S. with 10,500 volunteers nationwide.  SCORE was founded in 1964 and is a partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The workshop will start at 6:00 p.m. on both evenings and will be held at the Greater Owensboro Commerce Center at 200 E. 3rd Street (corner of 3rd Street and J.R. Miller Blvd.) in Owensboro.  Registration is required and should be made by calling the Emerging Ventures Center at 270 663 1050.  There is a fee of $40 per person or $30 per person if pre-registered.  Spouses and partners may attend for half-price. Limit of 16 participants.

Contact The Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation at 270 663 1050 for more information.

Congressman Guthrie will announce $1 Million Federal Grant for Owensboro Centre for Business and Research

Congressman Brett Guthrie will be in town to announce the award of $986,800 in grants from the Economic Development Administration to the EDC and the City of Owensboro for the purchase of equipment at the Centre for Business and Research.  The grant, which was applied for with the assistance of GRADD, is for communities damaged by Hurricane Ike and the recessionary effects of the market in 2008.

The Centre for Business and Research will contain approximately 30,000 square feet of office space for high-tech business start-ups in the food science and plant therapeutic industries, and will offer companies the ability to rent laboratory facilities "by the bench."  The Centre, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010, seeks to be the region's premiere business accelerator for biotech companies.

The announcement will take place tomorrow at 10:30 am at the Centre for Business and Research, 1010 Allen Street.

First Centre for Business and Research tenants expected by end of the year

The transformation of an 86-year-old former tobacco warehouse at 1016 Allen St. into the high-tech Centre for Business and Research was originally scheduled to be completed by midsummer.

But Malcolm Bryant, the building's owner, said last week that he still expects the massive project to be completed before the end of the year.

"I would hope to have at least one, if not three, tenants moved in by the end of the year," Bryant said.

Alisha Hardison, owner of Dalisha's Desserts, won the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp.'s first eMerging Ventures Challenge. The business plan competition's prizes included a $15,000 investment award and a free six-month lease on office space in the Centre for Business and Research.

And Hollison Technologies, a local startup biotech company, has already leased space in the building.

Madison Silvert, vice president of the EDC and executive director of its eMerging Ventures Center for Innovation, said Friday that he's working with a third company that's likely to lease space in the center.

But if that company commits, he said, "They probably won't be ready to move in until after the first of the year."

Plans for the building call for research space for biotech companies as well as office space for a "business accelerator," a place where new businesses can rent as much space as they need until they're ready to move out on their own.

Seven universities and colleges will be affiliated with the Owensboro center when it opens.

The list includes the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University, Murray State University, Brescia University, Kentucky Wesleyan College and Owensboro Community & Technical College.

Nick Brake, EDC president, said he's still optimistic that the grant, which had been expected in September, will come through.

"It has to be announced by a member of Congress," he said.

The money, which would be used to install "wet labs" in the Centre for Business and Research, would come from federal funds designated for communities affected by Hurricane Ike and its remnants in September 2008.

Emerging Ventures Continues to Have Positive Impact

After two years in operation, the Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation has made a significant impact on the entrepreneurial climate in Greater Owensboro.

Second year numbers recently released by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. that oversees Kentucky's Innovation and Commercialization Centers indicate that Emerging Ventures far exceeded the benchmarks set by the state in terms of startup company growth and high tech job creation during last year.

Emerging Ventures located seven high tech companies last year, retained four high tech companies from the previous year, and reported expansions in three other companies. The result was 22 high tech jobs in which the average salary was more than two and a half times the per capita income of the Owensboro metro area.

Additionally, Emerging Ventures assisted companies in raising nearly $1 million in private investment funds from sources such as venture capital and angel investors. Emerging Ventures raised nearly $300,000 in funding from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. for Owensboro-based high tech companies.

Emerging Ventures, founded in 2007 by the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., provides technical support and startup assistance to entrepreneurs, scientists, and small business people perfecting and maturing their ideas and business concepts. Emerging Ventures is part of the Kentucky network of Innovation and Commercialization Centers.

Hollison investment demonstrates high tech potential in Owensboro

The latest investment by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. of $200,000 in Hollison Technologies, a startup biotech company that will have its headquarters in the Owensboro, shows just how far Owensboro has advanced in developing the infrastrcuture to support high tech company growth.

Hollison's Kevin Humphrey indicates it was the infrastructure in Owensboro that made the difference for the company. "That was fantastic," Kevin Humphrey of Utica, one of four partners in the company, said of the state investment. "I credit Madison and eMerging Ventures as much as I do our idea."

The Emerging Ventures Seed Fund, created two years ago by the City of Owensboro, invested $50,000 in Hollison. That investment opened the door for the KSTC investment of $200,000 and has created other opportunities. The EDC hosted a reception for the company to help identify additional angel investors.

Hollison will also be a tennent in the new Centre for Business and Research, the 37,000 square foot high tech business accelerator located in a former tobacco warehouse on Allen Street. The Centre is scheduled to open later this year.

Hollison has developed technology for the detection and identification of chemical, biological and radiological contamination in food commodities, processed food and beverages.

"It's exciting to see that kind of state investment," said Madison Silvert, vice president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. and executive director of its eMerging Ventures Center for Innovation.

"That's a good-sized investment," he said. "It's the largest award we've secured from them so far. We're seeing the emergence of a high-tech atmosphere in Owensboro."

An emeging high tech atmosphere --thanks to investments by the local community in infrastructure such as the eMerging Ventures Seed Fund, the Centre for Business and Research, and the eMerging Ventures program at EDC-- will help Owensboro to nurture the growth of high tech startup companies like Hollison.

Dalisha's Desserts Wins Emerging Ventures Challenge

Dalisha's Desserts, a start up cake bakery specializing in providing quality artistic desserts, was selected as the winner of the first annual Emerging Ventures Challenge business plan competition.

Dalisha's will receive a $15,000 investment award and a six month lease at the Centre for Business and Research, a business accelerator located at ninth and Allen St.  The company, a sole proprietorship, is currently searching for a location in downtown Owensboro.  

Emerging Ventures Executive Director Madison Silvert, Dalisha's could utilize the space being built into the Centre for Business and Research for a cafe or small restaurant. 

"We live in a very fast-paced, convenience-driven society," said Alisha Hardinson, the principal of Alisha's.  "Our specialty is our artistic flair, with unique desserts that can't be found anywhere in the region." 

The Emerging Ventures Challenge is funded from the Emerging Ventures Seed Capital Fund, created last year by the Owensboro City Commission.  Emerging Ventures is a division of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. designed to assist entrepreneurs and start up companies in the Owensboro region. 

Business and Research Center to Open by Summer

The transformation of an 86-year-old former tobacco warehouse at 1016 Allen St. into the high-tech Centre for Business and Research is on track to be completed by midsummer.

And Madison Silvert, vice president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. and executive director of its eMerging Ventures Center for Innovation, said he's hoping the first tenants will be ready to move in by fall.

Malcolm Bryant owns the 37,000-square-foot brick warehouse and is renovating it for modern offices and 8,000 square feet of research lab space.  "This building will be unique to this region and to Kentucky," he said. "Every day we're exposing more cool architecture in the building."  Bryant said the wood has been sandblasted to its original color, bricked up windows are being reopened to let in more natural light and a drainage cistern was discovered beneath the building.

Silvert said he's talking with several possible tenants for the space.  Plans call for the Centre for Business and Research to include research space for biotech companies as well as office space for a "business accelerator,  a place where new businesses can rent as much space as they need until they're ready to move out on their own. The center is designed to have lab space for clients of Kentucky BioProcessing who need research space in Owensboro.  The EDC  is talking with both private companies and educational institutions who are interested in space in the building.

Finalists Announced in Business Plan Competition

The eMerging Ventures Center for Innovation has selected the four finalists for its first $15,000 Challenge -- a business plan competition.

Madison Silvert, executive director of the center and EDC executive vice president, said Dalisha's Desserts, a dine-in high-quality dessert company; Fluent Universe, an Internet-based translation business; Agent511, a mobile technology company; and Stay-Dri, a continence solutions firm, will move on to the final round of the competition in April.

The companies are competing for a $15,000 investment award and a six-month lease at the Centre for Business and Research, a 27,000-square-foot laboratory and office facility being developed in a former tobacco warehouse in the 1000 block of Allen Street.

"We were excited by the level and quality of applicants in our first year," Silvert said in a news release. "It was, no doubt, a valuable learning experience for all of those who participated, and we would like for this to become an annual event."

The eMerging Ventures Center for Innovation is a division of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. It is designed to assist entrepreneurs and start-up companies in the Owensboro area.

The center includes a field office for Western Kentucky University's Central Region Innovation and Commercialization Center, the Owensboro office of Murray State University's Kentucky Small Business Development Center and the Owensboro chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

EDC Launches eMerging Ventures Challenge, offers $15,000 to Winner

The Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. is launching a $15,000 competition today to hopefully create jobs by summer. The Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation and the Emerging Ventures Seed Fund are sponsoring the first eMerging Ventures Business Challenge to entice entrepreneurs to start and expand businesses in Owensboro. The winning business plan also gets a six-month lease on office space at the Centre for Business and Research, which is being developed in an old tobacco warehouse at 1016 Allen St.

The local business plan competition is for start-up companies or expansions of existing businesses with high growth potential. High-growth potential is defined as a business that will create five or more jobs and more than $1 million in revenue within two to three years, with the potential to attract debt or equity financing.

The businesses must be located -- or willing to locate a significant business presence -- within Daviess County. Applications that don't meet the residency requirements will be rejected.

The competition takes place in two rounds. The first round requires a Business Concept Launch application of no more than five pages to be submitted by March 13. Four finalists will be selected on March 20 by a team of judges.
They will submit comprehensive business plans of up to 30 pages and orally present their plans to the judges on April 17. The winner will be announced on April 20.

The winner will receive $15,000 in seed money, a six-month lease and free mentoring and confidential counseling services to ensure success.

The $50 application fee will be waived if applicants attend business plan development, IP protection and financing workshops scheduled for Feb. 24 and 26.

To register for the workshops call 926-4339 or 663-1050. Information is available at www.emergingventureschallenge.com

Applications can be mailed to Madison Silvert, Director, Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation, 200 East Third Street, Suite 301, Owensboro, KY 42303 or to msilvert@owensboro.com.

Warehouse Going High-tech

By Keith Lawrence
Messenger-Inquirer

An 85-year-old former tobacco warehouse near downtown Owensboro will soon be converted into high-tech lab space to search for cures for cancer and other diseases.

The Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., Kentucky BioProcessing LLC and city and county officials will join with representatives of half a dozen Kentucky colleges and universities at 10 a.m. Tuesday to announce plans for the Centre for Business and Research at 1016 Allen St.

Nick Brake, EDC president, said the 37,000-square-foot building will be the anchor for the Carnegie Village development planned in the area around Ninth and Allen streets. Details will be announced Tuesday. The village takes its name from the nearby Carnegie Building, the original section of the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.

Brake said the warehouse will undergo extensive renovations to get ready for technology-based companies that will use it for research and incubator office space. "Kentucky BioProcessing has run out of lab space," Brake said. "The companies they work with need lab space in Owensboro."
Between 5,000 and 8,000 square feet of the building will be devoted to labs.
The rest will be used for office space for new companies and an accelerator program that lets businesses that start in the center expand into additional space until they are ready to move out into their own buildings.

The warehouse has had a colorful past, serving as home to such nightspots as Rockafellas, Amnezia and The Underground, the YB Corral western dance club and most recently, Common Ground, a Christian teen club.

Now, Brake said, the building will be used to leverage university research in Owensboro.
Western Kentucky University will assign several doctoral-level research faculty members to the facility to work with graduate students, he said.

Western already has a food manufacturing degree that's only offered at its Owensboro campus.
A food lab will be part of the center, Brake said, with an industrial kitchen that can be used for startup companies to test their products and develop them for market.

Madison Silvert, EDC vice president, said local colleges will use some of the space for undergraduate programs. He sees companies being created by former students to develop products they discovered in their research.

The proximity to Brescia University will be helpful, Brake said. "There are business incubators all over the country," Silvert said. "But there are very few business accelerators."
Incubator space is usually only available to start-up companies for the first year, he said.
But the next few years are when companies are the most vulnerable, until profits start coming in, Silvert said.

The accelerator space will give companies room to grow until they're ready to build, he said.
Brake said the center will have high-speed Internet and the type of security that such a building requires. Seven universities and colleges will be affiliated with the center, he said. The list includes the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Western, Murray State University, Brescia, Kentucky Wesleyan College and Owensboro Community & Technical College.
Brake said several clients are already interested in leasing space.

Silvert said EDC is talking with out-of-state venture capital companies about providing grants and loans for businesses in the center. "They tell us this is unique in the Midwest," he said. "Some are interested in office space so they could be near their clients."
Brake calls the project "a 21st century industrial park."

Development will take several years, he said. EDC did a "rigorous site selection search," Brake said. The warehouse is owned by Malcolm Bryant, a developer who serves on the EDC board. Bryant will lease the space to the center. "We considered a number of sites," Brake said, "including building a new facility next to KBP in MidAmerica Airpark."

But the cost of leasing and renovating are much lower than building from scratch and the location near both downtown and Brescia makes the Allen Street site very attractive, he said.
Brake said the Carnegie Village development will anchor the southern edge of downtown and is part of the Gateway Planning Group's master plan for downtown.

Emerging Ventures Year One

By Madison Silvert, EDC Executive Vice President

The Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation began its entrepreneur and high-tech initiatives in earnest in October of 2007. We opened the Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation in February 2008, providing small business support, conference rooms, free wi-fi, and work areas for entrepreneurs. Importantly, we also began work in this region with the state's innovation and commercialization center network, of which we are a proud part.

When we began, it was hoped that this office would work with two clients, fund one company, and help create two high-tech jobs in 2008. Since February, we have worked with ten client companies seeking funding and assistance for their ideas. When our actual numbers came in a few weeks ago, it was clear to us at the EDC that supporting entrepreneurs and small, high-tech businesses was a good use of our time and resources. Our numbers showed that, not only did we work with five times as many companies as we expected, but those client companies created 18 high-tech jobs, another 5 support jobs, and the average salary of those high-tech jobs was about twice Owensboro's median income.

Additionally, one of our client companies, Dewater Rite, received a grant award from the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation. The grant will help refine Dewater Rite's concept for an agricultural waste treatment and processing machine that, hopefully, will lead to manufacturing of the machine right here in Owensboro. We hope to announce another company receiving KSTC funding before the end of the year.

It is through the cultivation of these small high tech businesses that will help grow our local and regional economy for years to come.

Owensboro's Emerging Infrastructure to Support Life Sciences and High Tech

Continuing from the BIO Conference in San Diego...

A key result of the first two years of implementation of the Life Science Strategy for Owensboro has been the development of an infrastructure to support the growth of high technology companies in the region.

At the inception of the Strategic Plan, Owensboro had very little in the way of infrastructure to support high tech development. Since 2006 the following high tech infrastructure has been implemented:

Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation part of the state Innovation and Commercialization Center framework helps meet the needs of the plant biotech and other high tech companies connecting them to local, state and national resources. This connection has served several companies utilizing the expertise of the Kentucky BioProcessing facility, thus far five KBP client companies have applied for state funding.

Emerging Ventures Fund created in 2007 by the City of Owensboro, utilizing funds from the Owensboro Riverport Authority. This seed capital pool supports the relocation and growth of high tech companies in the region.

Greater Owensboro Venture Club provides an angel investor network, access to local and state venture funds for life science companies. KBP collaborators and potential customers have presented or are considered likely future presenters to club members.

Northwest Kentucky Green initiative is a regional partnership with Northwest Kentucky Forward, the economic development agency based in Henderson focusing on diversifying the regional economy through support of innovative developments in renewable energy and plant-made natural products. The initiative is serving as a model for regional rural innovation-based economic development around the Commonwealth (http://www.northwestkentuckygreen.com/).

Higher education research and workforce development partnerships- GO-EDC has worked with local and regional postsecondary institutions to develop the future workforce needed for growing biotechnology companies. Last year the Owensboro Community and Technical College received an $800,000 Department of Labor grant to enable the college to recruit high school students and link the two-year degree program in biotechnology to the bachelor’s degree program at Western Kentucky University. The expansion of the WKU undergraduate and graduate degree biotechnology program in Owensboro will also open the door for applied research opportunities in the future.

Owensboro Biotech Alliance Agriculture Database- The regional agriculture industry is engaged in the partnership through the Owensboro Biotech Alliance. Regional farmers are experienced in biotechnology related production and enjoy a national reputation for compliance with USDA regulations. In 2007 OBA completed a comprehensive database of local farmers that have the expertise and willingness to grow crops for plant biotechnology companies.

Next up: Accomplishments in the biotech industry in Owensboro, including KBP, the Owensboro Cancer Research Program, and two new companies in 2007! Click here for more information on the Greater Owensboro Life Science Partnership.

Glory Industries returns to the Greater Owensboro Venture Club: New Breakfast Format on June 11 at 7:30 am

The recent article in the Messenger-Inquirer about Glory Industries is a testament to the value of the Greater Owensboro Venture Club for entrepreneurs in the region. Dan and Patty Ogles owners of Glory Industries, a company that makes easy-to-replace mud flaps for semi-trucks, made a one-minute pitch at the inaugural Venture Club meeting in spring 2007.

At that meeting Ogles met Ankur Gopal, a local entrepreneur who made a pitch for his company. The connection made at the Venture Club proved to be beneficial to both. Gopal later worked with Glory Industries assisting with the development of their business plan.

"Ankur brought us his business expertise," Dan Ogles told Keith Lawrence of the Messenger-Inquirer. A class on entrepreneurship that Gopal was teaching at Kentucky Wesleyan College helped design a marketing campaign for Fast Flap.

"They didn't even know what a mud flap was on the first day," Ogles said. "But in a couple of days, they were on fire, coming up with all kinds of ideas for us."

The marketing is paying off. At the recent Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville in March, the Fast Flap caught the attention of CMT's popular "Trick My Truck" cable series. Ogles is hoping the product placement will help the young company capture the attention of the nation's trucking industry.

It all began at the first Venture Club meeting last spring. On June 11, Ogles will return to the Venture Club to be a featured presenter in hopes of raising the $200,000 that they need for the tooling and molds of the product line.

The June Venture Club meeting will also feature a presentation by a Texas-based medical devise company. Both companies that presented to the Venture Club in the spring recieved funding!

The meeting includes a new breakfast format beginning at 7:30 am at the Springs Conference Center. The cost for admission is $10. To make a reservation for the meeting, please contact Melissa Shelton at 270.926.4339 or via e-mail at mshelton@owensboro.com. Reservations can also be made online at http://www.owensboroventureclub.com/

Recruitment of Entrepreneurs, Day 1

By Madison Silvert, EDC Vice President for Entrepreneurship and High Tech Development

CHICAGO--A key to the future economic vitality of our region is entrepreneurship. Small businesses create two out of every three new jobs and account for roughly half of the country's workforce. (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/smallbusiness/)

As part of my charge as EDC Vice President, it is my responsibility to recruit talent, in much the way we have traditionally recruited manufacturing-based businesses. The idea is to find people who are willing to start their new business in Owensboro.

Today is part of a two day trip for me to the Chicago Graduate School of Business where I hope to find some young entrepreneurs willing to leave the big city behind and start their new business in Owensboro. Already, Jay Malin of Agent511 has announced (http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/Story/venture-clubm28) that he will be using Owensboro as the city in which to incubate his exciting text message marketing company, started with Owensboro native, Ankur Gopal. I met with Jay today to discuss any strategic needs he might have as the company begins to roll out its service in the Owensboro area.

Hopefully others like Jay will realize the benefit of utilizing the untapped market in our area, choosing it over the more saturated markets of Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. A trip to the Chicago Graduate School of Business proved informative, as I attended a classroom panel of entrepreneurs who had started everything from a consulting firm to a financial software company. Members of the class had the opportunity to speak with me about the excellent support available to entrepreneurs in Kentucky and Owensboro, specifically. I was able to espouse the benefits of locating in a city that provides access to startup capital through the city's eMerging Ventures Fund and the state's Kentucky Enterprise Fund, the counseling and mentoring support available through the EDC, Murray State's Small Business Development Center, and the Service Corps of Retired Executives, as well as access to angel investors through the Owensboro Venture Club. It was clear to me that these young entrepreneurs were impressed with the level of support that is available to them in Owensboro, and I will hopefully be hearing from some of them soon.

Tomorrow I will head back to the University of Chicago, and I hope to visit some business accelerators in Chicago to learn some practices that might translate well to our region.

Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation Grand Opening

The partnership that will promote the growth of the entrepreneurial economy in Owensboro, the Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation, kicked open the door for a grand opening this evening as part of the Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event.

Emerging Ventures is a unique cooperative effort between GO-EDC, Western Kentucky University's Innovation and Commercialization Center, the Murray State University Small Business Development Center, and the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). It will be a one-stop center that will help entrepreneurs perfect their business ideas and provide technical support and access to capital.

The Center is located on the third floor of the Commerce Center at 200 East Third St. in downtown Owensboro. For more information about Emerging Ventures, go to http://edc.owensboro.com/entrepreneurship/Emerging_Ventures/
or contact Madison Silvert at 270.926.4339.