Risk It: Indiana will be in Madison, Indiana on August 28, 2013 at the Venture Out Business Center. We have an open call for submissions of ideas or inventions for a chance to win $4,000 in prizes and donations.  Seven to ten brave competitors will be given 5 minutes to pitch their idea to 4 judges and an audience of close to 100 people.

Last year, we had seven competitors from inventions to cartoon characters for school age children and we hope to have the same variety this year. The audience was made up of lenders, angel investors, elected officials and the general public. You can submit your pitch online at http://www.riskitindiana.org/enter-your-idea/.

Approximately 1 out of 5 pre-venture ISBDC clients started a business after receiving business counseling from 2007 to 2012

The $69,918,946.10 in capital raised by ISBDC clients indicates that each dollar expended on the ISBDC program was leveraged by approximately $18.28 in new capital raised from external sources in 2012.

ISBDCs Help Grow the Economy—24/7

• A new business is opened by an ISBDC client every….. 36 hours
• 35 new jobs are created or retained by an ISBDC client every…. day
• $3,497.40 in new sales are generated by ISBDC clients every…..hour
• $191,558.76 in financing is obtained by ISBDC clients every…..day

The collaboration brings together resources for Gary residents who may have the idea on a napkin but not the business plan in place, said Eric Reaves, assistant director of Gary’s Economic Development Corp.

“We wanted to change the process and work on the idea to set up an office here where we can help the citizens of Gary with great ideas,” he said. “A lot of people have great ideas but just don’t know where to start.”

NW-ISBDC Regional Director Lorri Feldt addresses the crowd at Gary City Hall.

Business and community leaders marked the new initiative during a recent open house at Gary City Hall as well as launched office hours to connect potential entrepreneurs to experts.

As a result of the partnership, NW-ISBDC business adviser Bill Gregory and an Accion representative will be on hand from 9 a.m. to noon the first Tuesday of the month at the annex building, 839 Broadway. Initially, individuals may walk in and appointments may be accepted in the future.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson saw the need for business-focused services through her 15 minutes with the mayor initiative.

“They had great ideas that manifested through the products that they brought … cookies, pies, all types of great things,” she said. “We understood that we did not have the capacity on our own to really help our residents bring those ideas to fruition so we knew it was necessary to partner with these wonderful organizations.”

NW-ISBDC Regional Director Lorri Feldt said the ISBDC focuses on helping entrepreneurs take that next step and “take that napkin and develop it into a real business plan and understanding of the market and hopefully help them become a successful business that lasts.”

“We worked with 370 clients in 2012 in that process with both start-up entrepreneurs and business owners who have issues that may keep them up late at night,” Feldt said. “We have a great team of advisers with significant industry experience and accomplishments. They are capable of not only understanding and communicating about business ownership but also assisting that client in taking those next steps in thinking through with eyes wide open what it means to open a business.”

Accion representatives will provide financial advice during the office hours. The organization has been making loans in Lake and Porter counties since 2008 in a range of amounts from $500 to $50,000.

“Accion works with businesses that are unable to access traditional forms of financing. Our average loan is $8,000 to almost any kind of business,” said Jonathan Brereton, Accion Chief Executive Officer. “We’re really excited to dive in here in Gary and get involved and really work with more businesses and fund more businesses in Gary.”

Carmella Saraceno of Miller Beach Market Place and Dion Thomas of Right Lane Express shared their experiences with both organizations.

Thomas has worked with NW-ISBDC business adviser Cindy Bertram as well as the Accion team to launch his business that provides two components: training to drivers and freight brokering.

“Everything fell right into place,” he said. “We are preparing to offer services here in the city to other young men who grew up in the city – who are growing up in the city – just like myself.”

Forest Hayes, director of Gary’s Department of Commerce and Economic Development Corp., applauded the collaboration’s current direction.

“Rarely does a dream come true in this business and even when it does come true, rarely does the actual event or actual product exceed what your dream was in the beginning. This is one of those times,” he said. “I never envisioned this kind of response.”

Feldt said her team is also looking forward to the partnership’s growth and development and she will assess if additional office hours are needed in the future.

For more information, contact the NW-ISBDC at (219) 644-3513, Gary Economic Development Corp. at (219) 881-1367 or Accion at (312) 275-3000.

For additional pictures from the event, visit the NW-ISBDC’s Facebook at www.facebook.com/nwisbdc.

Noelle Dunckel – Entrepreneurs are getting younger and younger. From Lemonade Day to Inc.com’s 30 Under 30, innovation and problem solving seem to be on the mind of a lot of today’s young people.  That’s no exception here in Indiana. That’s why the ISBDC is partnering with colleges and universities throughout the state to recruit young, entrepreneurial-minded Hoosiers to participate in the second annual Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP).

YEP is designed to connect college-aged entrepreneurs with communities who are looking to bring economic development into their area. The partnership looks something like this:

*Incentives can include anything from free space, to assistance with obtaining loans and grants, to offering free legal and tax advice. The opportunities could be endless.

Students who are interested in participating in YEP are encouraged to like our Facebook page for more information and regular updates. Business plans must be submitted by March 22, 2013 to be considered for the program. Once reviewed and selected, participants will be encouraged to attend a critique event in their region where they will have the opportunity to meet with successful entrepreneurs and  business people who can help polish the business plan and provide pointers on successfully connecting with communities.

On April 25, 2013, these young entrepreneurs and community leaders will meet face-to-face at the Young Entrepreneur Expo at the University of Indianapolis. At this time, participants will have the chance to speak one one-on-one about their business plan idea and communities will reveal the incentives the can offer for a new business to be established in their city. Following this event, communities will make offers to participants, thus beginning the process to small business ownership!

If you are interested in participating in YEP as a student participant, please review the business plan guidelines to get started. If you are interested in participating from the community site, please contact Michael Thissen with the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.

The Young Entrepreneurs Program is presented by the ISBDC, in partnership with OCRA and the IEDC.

Noelle Dunckel is the Program Coordinator for the ISBDC. Noelle can be reached at ndunckel@isbdc.org.

Small Business Awards

• Small Business Person of the Year
• Small Business Exporter of the Year
• SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Young Veteran Small Business Owner of the Year
• Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year

Champion Awards 

• Financial Services Champion of the Year
• Home-Based Business Champion of the Year
• Minority Small Business Champion of the Year
• Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year
• Women in Business Champion of the Year

The ISBDC and SBA invite you to help honor these businesses and individuals that create jobs and a real impact for the Hoosier State by nominating a small business. Nomination guidelines for these categories are available from the SBA Indiana District Office. Completed nomination packages (see below), must be postmarked or hand delivered to the SBA Indiana District Office on or before December 5, 2012:

Attention: Sharon Murff
U.S. Small Business Administration
8500 Keystone Crossing, Suite 400
Indianapolis, IN 46240

Nomination materials:
2013 SBW Guidelines | Consent for Disclosure | SBA Nomination Form

For additional information please contact Sharon Muff at 317-226-7272 x123 or sharon.murff@sba.gov.

]]> http://www.isbdc.org/impact2011/feed/ 1 http://www.isbdc.org/pre-seed-workshop/ http://www.isbdc.org/pre-seed-workshop/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:03:07 +0000 ISBDC http://www.isbdc.org/?p=7895 When:  September 25, 26,  October 3

Where: DeveloperTown, Indianapolis

The Pre-Seed Workshop is a no-cost workshop that will help with the “thickening” of an innovative technology or idea and present the opportunity to work with discussion groups to vet business ideas and launch pre-seed stage companies. In no way is this a boring run-of-the-mill lecture series. Instead, this workshop will help participants simulate a start up company and give insight on the commercialization process.