SourceLink Network News
Rob kicked off our June SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversation with exciting news from our network affiliates. NWI BizHub in Northwest Indiana received a grant from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) and MicroEnterprise of Inland SoCal received the 2023 Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, a rating for nonprofit agencies in terms of transparency. After many months of work, Colmena66 has a newly redesigned website!
SourceLink has exciting news, too. We are proud to announce that all migrations of affiliate websites to WordPress from the Sitefinity platform are complete. We are also celebrating KCSourceLink and SourceLink’s 20th birthday! Happy Birthday to us!
Rob announced upcoming opportunities for network affiliates including an entrepreneurship-led economic development session being planned as part of the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) Annual Conference. IEDC also is offering the opportunity to become a host organization for IEDC Economic Recovery Corps Fellows program. The program is focused on accelerating recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in distressed areas by connecting host organizations with highly-trained early- to mid-career professionals (Fellows) from diverse backgrounds.
SourceLink and SourceLink affiliates are saying hello and good-bye to valued staff members. Hello to Krista Markley, Business Development Director, and Varshith Thoda, Software Developer, who recently joined SourceLink. Good-bye and best wishes to Kat Rutledge, Director of the KCC Small Business Development Center and Klamath IDEA in Oregon who is transitioning to become associate state director for the Oregon Small Business Development Center, Cathy Lang, Executive Director of the Nebraska Business Development Center is retiring at the end of this year and Dara Macan, our SourceLink National Director Partnerships & Engagement, who retires at the end of June.
Building Ecosystem Leaders Update
The Ecosystem Building Leadership Project (EBLP) was established to advance the work produced from Kauffman ESHIP Summits hosted in Kansas City from 2017-2020. Dara Macan, from SourceLink, serves on the provisional council and shared recent updates including an opportunity to receive funding for the next GREAT IDEA to advance the field of ecosystem builders across the country. If interested, Field Advancement Fund Applications are open until July 31. Let SourceLink know if you need assistance in preparing your proposal. Also, the provisional council will begin recommending people to serve on the permanent council. If you would like to have your voice heard and serve watch for announcements coming soon. Follow updates from the EBLP at https://eblp.tradewing.com/community.
SourceLink Summit 2023 Highlights
More than 50 SourceLink affiliates, staff and guests gathered at the AC Marriott in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico for our much-anticipated SourceLink Summit April 24-26, 2023. After four long years of planning, we celebrated! From the very start of the Summit, it was obvious we were thrilled to be together. Our fun icebreaker introduction activity brought laughter, hugs, and many conversations. It felt as if most everyone knew each other already, although we were meeting in person for the first time!
One of our goals for the SourceLink Summit was to provide opportunities for peer mentoring and networking. Sessions were designed to include all affiliate members attending to share successful best practices so others could benefit.
We left San Juan excited, invigorated and a little tired, but thrilled we were able to meet with SourceLink affiliates and national ecosystem building experts from all over the county. A huge thank you to our co-hosts and affiliate in San Juan, Colmena66, representatives from our affiliate network who traveled to San Juan, guest speakers and our staff.
Our SourceLink community is an incredible force in ecosystem building. We constantly learn from each other and this Summit allowed us to share those lessons and plan new possibilities. We can’t wait for our next Summit. Send us your thoughts and stay tuned!
SourceLink Technologies Updates and Overview
Rob then shared details from 2nd quarter enhancements of each SourceLink licensed technology, including: SourceLink℠ Pro CRM, The Resource Navigator® interactive database and SiteConnex™ websites. Many of these enhancements were requested by our affiliates. Rob also provided an overview of the best practices, advanced features, and new developments for each.
SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversations
SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversations are an exclusive benefit for SourceLink affiliates. Agendas include topics, speakers and discussions suggested by our community of network builders and is an opportunity to share best practices and collaborate with one another. For more information about becoming a SourceLink affiliate and joining our conversations contact Krista Markley, Director of Business Development, [email protected]
