Loudoun conference helps grow businesses
Put on by the SBDC at MEC-Leesburg with assistance from local partners, the second annual Loudoun Small Business Week conference helped over 150 attendees learn how to grow their businesses. With 12 breakout sessions on topics ranging from chat bots and automation to business financing, there was no shortage of educational opportunities. Keynote speaker Eric Major, founder of K2M, shared his "lessons learned" while growing his global medical technology company. He summed up the entrepreneurial journey by saying, "What people don't realize is that success as an entrepreneur is never a straight line. The highs are very high; the lows are extremely low. It's about staying committed and always learning." Read more
|
Inveniam Capital Partners graduates
Inveniam Capital's CTO Chuck Shotton remarks, "Thanks to the head start we achieved through partnering with MEC, we've gotten a technology product, into the market that would have otherwise required many more months to produce and the company is on track to produce more than $2 million in revenue this quarter. It's been a fantastic 12+ months being part of the MEC family." A FinTech company, Inveniam Capital brings efficiencies to the middle-market private-debt business. It was the first to fully tokenize debt issues on a public blockchain for listing and trading on global exchanges. As of Q3 this year, it will have originated, structured, and sold over $100 million of debt instruments on behalf of small- and medium-sized businesses across the US and Europe.
|
MEC-Leesburg welcomes four new incubator members
With specialties ranging from behind-the-wheel-drivers instruction to federal-risk-management consulting, four new members of driver -- Realized Intelligent Solutions Corp, Baseline, LLC, J L Fristad, PLLC, and Winding Road Driving Academy -- are joining a diverse entrepreneurial community.
|
CBP (Springfield)
|
CBP joins Small Scale Production Initiative Advisory Board
To expand and strengthen economic activity in Fairfax County's commercial areas, the Office of Community Revitalization has launched the Small Scale Production Initiative (SSPI) to explore the potential for community-friendly small-scale production enterprises as a revitalization strategy. Small-scale production (SSP) manufacturing is a growing sector of small businesses that produce tangible goods. SSPs can include textiles, hardware, woodworking, metalworking, prototyping, consumer product design, breweries and local food production. The County has put together an Advisory Board, which includes CBP, to identify the scale and potential for SSPs in Fairfax. Read more
|
CBP's business incubator director Debbie Dever retires
CBP and MEC staffs, the Board of Directors, clients both former and current honored Dever with a "Life's a beach when you're retired" surprise party. While at CBP, she fostered regional economic development by supporting entrepreneurs and small/disadvantaged businesses and by providing the resources needed to assist them. She heavily contributed to the success of many full-time clients who are now mentors and key role players within the small business community. During her tenure, she was Assistant Director at the SBDC, the facilities manager, and the director of the business incubator center. Read more
|
MEC-Fairfax
|
Use crowdfunding for more than money
Mike Hogarty and partner Callye Keen (Red Blue Collective) help entrepreneurs develop hardware products from concept to market, including product design, manufacturing, marketing, business development, and funding. At a workshop with 40+ attendees, Hogarty described how important crowdfunding can be. It not only helps raise money, but it can provide a platform to validate interest in a company's offering, to launch the offering (from trinkets to Teslas and services, too), and to maintain the momentum afterwards.
|
Steve Gladis publishes latest book on taking charge of your career
People used to work for the same organizations their entire careers. Human resources developed career paths that were structured and prescribed. But those days are gone. Now you must lead yourself and become the CEO of your own career. Follow six very different people in the book as they struggle with this issue while participating in a group coaching process led by an executive coach. Then read about the research, experience, and instruction for people seeking to take charge of their own careers. Read more
|
MEC-Fauquier
|
Co-worker Kathleen Butler joins MEC-Fauquier
Kathleen Butler, a consultant who provides business advisory and customized training, selected MEC-Fauquier as her workspace for its excellent location, functional layout, and professional ambience. Butler's most recent project is the fourth edition of the award-winning environmental science textbook, Living with the Earth, which she co-wrote with author Gary S. Moore, M.S., Dr.P.H.
|
|
