Media Contact:
Brenda Wishart, Co-Director
Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative
413.565.1229
bwishart@baypath.edu
 

Download press release

Collegiate Entrepreneurship Conference - October 2005  

CONFERENCE SET TO OFFER STUDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FIRST-HAND ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS AND WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCEED.

Springfield, Mass. – The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation (HGCF) Entrepreneurship Initiative and TD Banknorth are sponsoring the inaugural Collegiate Entrepreneurship Conference on Friday, October 21, 2005. The conference will be held at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Collegiate Entrepreneurship Conference is open to undergraduate and graduate students who attend institutions participating in the HGCF Entrepreneurship Initiative. Participating colleges include: American International College, Bay Path College, Elms College, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts, Western New England College and Westfield State.

The conference will give students the opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs the appropriate steps to take to start a business, how to turn an idea into reality, and the risks and rewards of business ownership. Participants will attend two breakout sessions and hear a luncheon keynote speaker.

Keynote Speaker, Andrea Silbert, the co-founder and former CEO of the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) and current candidate for Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, will share success stories from her career as well as advice for students with entrepreneurial interests.

Breakout session topics include “Accessing Capital”; “Legal Issues: What You Need to Know to Start and Grow Your Own Business”; “Navigating the Patenting Process”; “The In’s and Out’s of Importing & Exporting”; “Social Entrepreneurship and Grant Resources”; “Creative Entrepreneurship & the Arts”; “Students in Action”; and, “Search Engine Marketing”.

Over twenty speakers and panelists will share their experiences, including David W. Glidden, Regional President of TD Banknorth; Attorney Michelle Bugbee, Intellectual Property Counsel for G.E.; P. Ann Pierway, western Mass. Director of the Mass. Export Center; Sue Kaplan, Founder of Go Fit; and, Jordi Herald, founder of The Iron Horse Entertainment Group.

Pre-registration is required through the faculty advisor at each college/university. For additional information about the conference, contact Brenda Wishart, Co-Director of the HGCF Entrepreneurship Initiative, 413.565.1229.

About the HGCF Harold Grinspoon is a successful entrepreneur who, over forty-five years ago, founded a real estate company known as Aspen Square Management. This West Springfield-based company now owns and operates apartment communities in over 25 states nationwide. Inspired by his own experience, Mr. Grinspoon has created the Entrepreneurship Initiative as a segment of The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, to encourage young people to innovate and to turn their innovation and creativity into businesses that will ultimately create economic opportunity and growth in the Pioneer Valley.

This Initiative seeks to foster an educational environment that informs, supports, and inspires student entrepreneurs by enrolling the aid of professors and instructors from the area colleges with a unique interest in entrepreneurship to serve as advisors to students with entrepreneurial interests.