News from Westchester’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem |
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Featuring news, entrepreneur profiles, and mentorship and growth opportunities |
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Launch1000 Application Period Now Open
Launch1000 is now accepting applications for its 2022 cohort. The application period will close on April 15 and all new Launchers will begin the program during the four weeks of April. This year's program includes a Dual Language cohort (English/Spanish), which will begin on April 18.
Launch1000 was established in 2020 in response to the significant economic disruption caused by COVID-19, with the goal of enabling 1,000 Westchester residents to start a business or develop an income stream for themselves and their families. The program is designed to help residents evaluate an idea, test it with potential customers and see if it seems likely to success. During 2021, more than 200 Launchers completed the program and most have launched their ventures.
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Intro to Launch1000 Information Sessions
The Westchester County Office of Economic Development will hold weekly virtual information sessions for Launch1000 in both English and Spanish. The first information session will take place on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:00 AM. Click here to register.
The first information session in Spanish will take place on Wednesday, March 9 at
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Westchester County Accepting Applications for
2022 Business FIRST Grant Program
To be eligible for a grant, the organization’s primary location must be in Westchester County. The organization must be currently open with plans to stay open, or temporarily closed with plans to reopen in 2022.
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Launch1000 Participants in the News
Rachel Katz joined Launch1000 in October 2020 with many ideas and a passion for helping people who face autoimmune conditions like her. Now her product, nonoPASTA, is available for purchase on Amazon. Learn more about her and this delicious venture on WestchesterMagazine.com.
Shomari Sealy is the founder of CIK Eyewear, a sunglass brand that offers shades with designs and colors inspired by various countries. After completing Launch1000 last year, Shomari came up with the concept of supporting different causes from different countries through the profits from each sale. With a purchase from CIK Eyewear, shoppers will be able to support the causes they love stylishly. CIK Eyewear was recently included in a round-up of new businesses in the area on lohud.com.
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Business Council of Westchester Launches
Westchester Innovation Network (WIN)
Congratulations to The Business Council of Westchester, who have made a series of announcements celebrating important milestones for its newly formed Westchester Innovation Network (WIN), a program aimed at driving economic development, innovation, and growth within the county as a hub of innovation.
The first phase of the WIN program, The Innovation Match Program, hosted 10 innovation pairings with local businesses in Westchester with discrete deliverables agreed upon at the outset of the relationship and delivered by a specified timeframe. Congratulations to the two Element 46 graduates who have been selected for this program: Kool Nerd Connect and Silver Bells, who have been selected for this program!
Kool Nerd Connect, a Mamaroneck-based career readiness company that connects diverse students to future career possibilities, is partnering with the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester to conduct a healthcare industry career focused class. SilverBills, a New Rochelle-based fintech innovator focused on providing an easy-to-use technology platform to automate bill paying for seniors, will partner with the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY) to help its tenants learn to use automated bill payment.
More information about the WIN program can be found here.
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Angel Investing 101
Have you ever thought that you’d like to help early-stage companies grow but you don’t know enough about the process? Or that you’d like to be part of an angel network but you don’t know where to start?
HAYVN is partnering with Tidal River, a new CT-based group of women investors who will be leading the conversation about what you need to know to evaluate early stage/seed investment opportunities. The topics will include pitch evaluation, due diligence, valuation, financials and term sheets. You’ll learn the critical questions to ask entrepreneurs and you’ll get some practice with real women with innovative ideas that they’re currently pitching.
A one-day workshop over lunch that combines investor assessment techniques with guest pitches from real entrepreneurs.
DATE: March 4, 2022
TIME: 10:00 AM
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Growing Your Business Globally - Three Bold Women Business Owners Unearth the Hidden Gems to Taking a Business Global
What does it take to go global? It’s not one thing that propels you to success. Rather, it’s a series of things that must be done well that will get you that much closer to improving your overall growth potential and conducting business with customers the world over.
In this webinar from SCORE, three experienced global women entrepreneurs: Laurel Delaney, Lena Phoenix, and Debra Dudley share successes building e-commerce sales globally, leveraging a Shark Tank experience, turning Made in USA products into a competitive advantage, and shipping worldwide – all to make the world their business.
DATE: March 8, 2022
TIME: 1:00 PM
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Proposals and Pricing for Consultants
This free webinar will offer guidance on how to price your services and write proposals that are mutually beneficial to you and your clients.
Topics include:
- Understanding what to include and what to exclude from your proposal
- Articulating the project’s scope in your proposal and sticking to it in your work
- Describing activities, timelines and deliverables with precision
- Incorporating payment terms and schedules into your proposals
- Calculating a fair price for services based on experience and industry standards
DATE: March 9, 2022
TIME: 10:00 AM
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Video 101: Your Style, Your Brand – Using Fashion as a Tool
Learn how to communicate who you are in photos, reels and video in this three-part series from WEDC!
Session 1 Topics:
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Communicating through Style- What does your image say about you?
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Psychology of Color- How color is perceived and what it means
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Tailored to Fit- ABC’s of Style: Accentuate, Balance, Camouflage
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Your Personality Profile- Polished and authentic
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Style Tips- What not to wear
DATE: March 9, 2022
TIME: 12:00 PM
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Video 101: How to Use Video to Market Your Business
In the second part in this three-part series from WEDC, you’ll learn why video content is the most powerful digital marketing material you should be focused on.
Session 2 Topics:
- 2021 statistics on video content in marketing
- Types of video content to engage your audience
- Building a video marketing strategy
- Basics of a well-crafted video
- DIY Approach: Recipe for a simple video you can make
- Working with a production company
DATE: March 16, 2022
TIME: 12:00 PM
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Video 101: Ready Your Spotlight for Instagram Reels & YouTube
In the final part in this three-part series from WEDC, you’ll learn about two popular video formats/platforms, Instagram Reels and YouTube, and how to leverage them for greater online visibility.
Session 3 Topics:
- What is an Instagram Reel?
- Creating a Reel on Instagram
- Ensure your Reel gets seen
- What kinds of videos work best for YouTube?
- Uploading a video to YouTube
- Effective YouTube search engine optimization
DATE: March 23, 2022
TIME: 12:00 PM
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Government Contracting 101 with SCORE and Westchester County
This webinar will help businesses understand all the steps necessary to become a responsible and responsive vendor to the Federal, New York State, and New York City Governments. The webinar will provide businesses with an overview of how to get registered to do business with the government, how to get certified with all levels of government, and how to find government contracting opportunities.
DATE: March 31, 2022
TIME: 7:00 PM
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Have entrepreneurial news or resources we should know about?
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