It’s going to take the entire Capital region working together to create a system that will nurture new businesses, says Dr. Barbara Fails. Many pieces are in place—and another is forming.
The Innovators and Entrepreneurs (I & E) Club is one more cog in the East Lansing/Michigan State University (MSU) business incubation machine.
Other parts already include the The East Lansing Technology Innovation Center (TIC), The Hatch, the university’s Product Center, the Entrepreneurship Association on campus, just to name a few.
The I & E Club’s purpose will be to create a social network for aspiring entrepreneurs from the community, although students are welcome, Fails says.
People hoping to start non-profits are welcome as well. Its first meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the TIC, 325 E. Grand River, top floor. Future meetings will be first Tuesdays of the months.
Sponsored by the university’s Land Policy Institute (LPI) and another new organization called Young, Smart, Global (YSG), the club is modeled on one Fails started in Clinton County, based on the work of Terry Whipple’s success in Juneau County, Wisconsin.
“He could recruit 100 people for a meeting,” Fails says. That created a network with a powerful cross pollination of information.
“Suppose someone wants to open a restaurant. Someone else may know of a restaurant that is selling equipment,” she suggests.
Fails is with the LPI, abd will be the group's initial facilitator. She once owned a home-based special events flower business called Florabundance in Okemos.
She knows that creating a new venture is a lonely business. She knows, too, that attitudes are changing in the Capital region to develop the cultural shift toward accepting risk, the potential of failure, and the desire to make resources available.
Source: Dr. Barbara Fails, MSU Land Policy Institute
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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