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2005 WBIA Conference |
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Hosted by the Wisconsin Business Incubation Association in cooperation with Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Rural Partners, Inc. Sponsored by Wisconsin Department of Commerce, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corporation, Madison Gas & Electric Company, WE Energies, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority |
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Carol Maria,
executive director of the Urban Economic Development Association (shown
above left) welcomed participants and gave an overview the conference.
The opening keynote address "Creating an Environment of Opportunity
to Grow Entrepreneurship and Transform Community" was given
by |
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Following the plenary, participants boarded buses to visit three Madison-area incubators in a "Look and Learn" tour sponsored by Madison Gas & Electric Company. |
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Hector
Colon, director of Economic Development for the Wisconsin Housing
& Economic Development Authority, updated participants on WHEDA's
new $30 million bonding authority to create more business incubators
as part of Governor Doyle's Grow Wisconsin initiative, as well as other
programs and services available from WHEDA. The breakfast was sponsored
by WHEDA. Tom Lyons, professor at the University of Louisville (Kentucy) Department of Urban and Public Affairs presented a keynote speech on "What it Takes to Create an Entrepreneurial Community." Lyons (shown right) has assisted WBIA in tracking incubator success for more than ten years and has developed new indicators that can also track entrepreneurial success in the broader community. View Lyons' PowerPoint presentation by clicking here. |
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 Six
skill-building panel and workshop sessions were offered to participants.
Some of the PowerPoint presentations are available by clicking on the
hot links below. Other links will take you to web sites with information
offered by the presenters. |
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Session 1: Starting and Growing an Incubator Paul Ehrfurth, Advance
Business Development Center |
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Session 2: Building
High Quality Networks Sally
Muller, Wisconsin Technology Council [PPT, 543 kb] |
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Session 3: Creating
and Sustaining Regional Partnerships David
Ward, NorthStar Economics [PPT, 1.4 Mb] |
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Session 4: Effective
Small Business Assessments Kate and Don Hill, Heartland Information Research [PPT, 2.25 Mb] |
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Session 5: Virtual
Support Options for Entrepreneurs Renee
Walz, Wisconsin Common Market [PPT, 6.3 Mb] |
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6: Financial Tools for Creating and Sustaining Incubators Mike Mathews, Grant Thornton Bill Chaudoir, Door County Economic Development Corporation [PPT, 214 kb] |
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The full conference was followed by a working session for incubator managers on "Measuring Incubator Success in Wisconsin." Steve Percy of the UW-Milwaukee Center on Urban Initiatives and Research facilitated the session that included a brief presentation by Tom Lyons and the development of success indicators and measurements by participants. Participants had many opportunities for networking throughout the WBIA conference. |
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| Photos by Kelly Haverkampf and Carol Maria. | |
The
conference opened with a networking lunch at the Top of the Park sponsored
by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The Chicago Fed also provided
each participant with a complimentary copy of its new handbook "TAP
Basics" a handbook for technical assistance providers to small
businesses. 
Jim
Haguewood, senior partner of ONE Consulting Group of Sequim, Washington.
Haguewood (shown right) shared the story of Clallum County, Washington's
rise from being one of Washington's most distressed counties to its
current status as one of the most innovative. Clallum County's secret
to success included developing industry clusters and local buyer-supplier
relationships. 
Pam
Christenson, director of the Bureau of Entrepreneurship at the Wisconsin
Department of Commerce (shown left), updated the group on the status
of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network in an afternoon plenary session.
At
the Friday luncheon, WBIA "Hall of Fame" awards were given
by WBIA president Thalia Mendez to Dave Loomis (shown
left) for the Coulee Region Business Incubator (La Crosse), and to Craig
Kettleson, long-time WBIA member. Michael Gay (shown right)
accepted Kettleson's award on behalf of his colleague.
Mary
P. Burke, Wisconsin Department of Commerce Secretary (shown left),
closed the full conference with remarks about the WBIA's partnership
with Commerce over the years, and with recent highlights of the Governor's
Grow Wisconsin initiative.
