Quarterly Conversations

• CLOSINGtheGAP: The Power of Inclusive Entrepreneurship - December 6, 2018

  
  
  
  
  

  CLOSINGtheGAP: The Power of Inclusive Entrepreneurship

  How can your community create opportunities for aspiring business owners, regardless of background, ambitions, or location? Investing in an equitable entrepreneurship ecosystem goes beyond job creation. Entrepreneurship offers individuals and families the ability to achieve economic independence and lift the community around them.

  Last spring, our 2018 Growing Entrepreneurial Communities Summit focused on creating economic growth through entrepreneurship in urban and rural communities. On Dec. 6, we will continue the conversation with three SourceLink network builders who will share programs and strategies for empowering women and minority entrepreneurs.

  Please join us for our next Quarterly Conversation, an exclusive benefit for Sourcelink affiliate members!

  Thursday, December 6, 12:00 noon-1:00 p.m. Central Time

   Featured Speakers:
  
  

  Caron Washington
  Director, Entrepreneurship and Business Development, National Urban League, New York, New York
  Caron Washington oversees the National Urban League’s 12 affiliate Signature Entrepreneurship Center Programs that provide leadership and skill training to minority entrepreneurs to start or grow businesses, win contracts and create jobs and wealth in their communities.
  
  
  

   

  Vanessa Roanhorse
  CEO, Roanhorse Consulting, Albuquerque, NM
  Vanessa Roanhorse is a fierce advocate for Native-American women entrepreneurs and business leaders. Two-and-a-half years ago, she launched Roanhorse Consulting, LLC, to encourage economic empowerment from within Native America. Vanessa is a co-founder of Native Women Lead, an organization creating an inclusive pathway for native women entrepreneurs. 
  
  
  

  

  Michael Carmona
  

  Director, Community and Business Development Hispanic Economic Development Corp., Kansas City, MO
  Michael Carmona oversees HEDC’s Business Development Program and oversees projects including the Westside Equitable Neighborhood Development Initiative, to identify and develop community building resources and creating a Community Improvement District along Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City. 
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• EDA Funding Opportunities - September 12, 2018

  

  Join our SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversation as we welcome Mark Werthmann, U.S. Economic Development Administration Representative, who will share funding opportunities for your network including:

  • Public Works (construction)
  • Planning and Technical Assistance
  • Economic Adjustment
  • Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS)
  • University Centers

  Learn insider best practices on how to construct a successful application with tips on what you should do (and not do!). Mark will share several examples of winning grant applications and those that were rejected.

  Wednesday, September 12, 12:00 Noon-1:00pm Central Time

  Mark Werthmann

  For more than ten years, Mark has been a tremendously valuable resource to communities, helping them to understand how to access and apply for resources from the EDA to accelerate economic development efforts. He comes from the economic development industry and understands the opportunity and challenges many of us face- having held positions with state and local government and non-profit development sectors. He earned his Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is certified as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP).

  About the EDA

  As the only federal government agency focused exclusively on economic development, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) provides financial assistance to communities and organizations so they can encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. 

  
  

• Working with Foundations to Capitalize Entrepreneurial Strategies - March 14, 2019

  
  
   

  Foundations can be powerful allies and financial supporters of your community’s entrepreneurial initiatives. According to research from the International Economic Development Council, more than a third of organizations in the economic development industry receive financial or in-kind support from a foundation.

  SourceLink is pleased to announce our next Quarterly Conversation, Working with Foundations to Capitalize Entrepreneurial Strategies, Thursday, March 14, 12:00pm Noon-1:00pm CT.

  We welcome Frank Spillers, co-owner Global Horizons LLC, who will guide our conversation with a panel of experts to help you learn more about how foundations help build sustainable entrepreneur-focused economic development in our communities.

  Joining our panel are:

  Pam Bishop, whose work at the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, focuses on economic development in Minnesota’s south central 20-county region, including Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV) communities and Grow North.

  Lauren Pradhan, founder of Grow North MN, a resource and connection hub for Minnesota's food and agriculture entrepreneur and innovation ecosystem. Pam and Lauren will share their experience in working with each other.

  Chris Harris manages the Market Gaps grants at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation funding entrepreneurship support organizations looking to expand successful programs to reach more entrepreneurs. Chris can share how the Foundation evaluates grant applications and what future trends may be in store.

  Pam Lewis is director of the New Economy Initiative, which is one of the country’s largest philanthropic partnerships and is managed by the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan. Pam focuses her attention on building an inclusive network of support for entrepreneurs and small businesses to diversify and strength the regional economy of southeast Michigan. Over the last 10 years, NEI has awarded more than $110 in grants to area organizations that support innovation and entrepreneurship in the southeast Michigan region.

  Learn more about:

  1. The mission, programs and impact of each foundation
  2. Types of funding resources foundations offer
  3. Metrics that win investments
  4. Insider information … tips for building relationships with foundations
  5. Trends/ challenges in grant making community we should know about

  Please join our Quarterly Conversation, an exclusive benefit for Sourcelink affiliate members!
  

  About guest speakers:
  

  Pamela K. Bishop is the vice president of economic development at the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) a donor-supported foundation, investing for economic growth in the 20 counties of south central and southeastern Minnesota. The Foundation has provided more than $111 million in grants, loans and programming within the region during the past 32 years. SMIF's key interests include early childhood, community and economic development. 
  
  
  
  
  Lauren Mehler Pradhan is the Founding Director and General Manager of Grow North MN, a program of the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship (HCE) at the Carlson School, University of Minnesota. Grow North is making Minnesota a key leader and destination for food and agriculture innovation and entrepreneurship by connecting and advancing this entrepreneur ecosystem. 
  
  
  
  Christopher Harris is a senior program officer in Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he manages the Market Gaps grants, which seeks to expand the most effective and scalable entrepreneurial support models across the United States. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation, created by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, and is the world's leading foundation for entrepreneurs. 
  
  
  
  Pamela D. Lewis is the director of the New Economy Initiative (NEI), Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, one of the country's largest regional economic development initiatives led by philanthropy. Funded by 13 national and regional foundations, NEI makes grants to support and convene organizations that serve metro Detroit entrepreneurs and small businesses, from neighborhood-based businesses to high tech and high growth enterprises. 
  
  
  Moderator: Frank Spillers, co-owner, Global Horizons LLC
  Frank Spillers is a coach, teacher, trainer, author, and speaker on building and sustaining civility through a process called “Relationship Economic Development.” He has spent his career as a business owner and economic developer at the local, state, and federal levels creating growth environments, specializing in rural America. 
  
  With 30 years of experience, Frank’s passionate specialty is developing leadership skills and behavioral changes for successful individual, business, community, school, and worship center growth. His energy and enthusiasm have fired up audiences around the country, having been referred to as the “Zig Ziglar” of rural community development. Frank and co-owner and wife, Kim, home office from Atlantic, Iowa.
  

  About SourceLink Affiliate Quarterly Conversations
  

  SourceLink’s Quarterly Conversation conference calls take place in September, December, March and June.  Each quarter, the agenda will include topics, speakers and discussions suggested by SourceLink communities so we can share best practices and collaborate with each other. Questions? Contact Pola Firestone, polafirestone@joinsourcelink.com.