The Jackson County Chamber’s SPARK initiative will mark Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 13 to 19 with a variety of local events.
Global Entrepreneurship Week was started in 2008 and is designed to celebrate and empower entrepreneurs around the world.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 13 at Rails Craft Brew & Eatery in Seymour, entrepreneurs, business service providers and big thinkers are invited to connect with each other in an engaging setting that the chamber is calling Entrepreneurial Speed Dating. Appetizers will be included.
Sharpen those founder skills from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Jackson County Chamber office in Seymour as those interested will unpack three topics with subject matter experts. The topics of discussion will be Intro to Design Thinking, Building Your Brand and Navigating Free Ecosystem Resources. Lunch will be provided.
On Nov. 15, all high school students involved in the Jackson County Maverick Challenge program are invited to attend a mixer event with experienced entrepreneurs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Moxie Coffee Co. in Seymour. Real-world founders will share their stories and take time to talk with students about their ideas. Drinks and snacks will be provided.
Join other entrepreneurs and big thinkers in various locations from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Nov. 16 for an event called a Pitch & Crawl. Those interested will be able to practice their pitching skills and creative thinking.
At the three stops along the crawl, San Marcos Mexican Restaurant, Vat & Barrel and Schwätzer’s German Restaurant, local business leaders will present a problem or a challenge they are facing. After some time to brainstorm, teams will present a pitch of their best idea or solution. Prizes and appetizers will be included.
On the final day of Global Entrepreneurship Week, those interested will be able to engage legislators about doing business in Indiana and Jackson County from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Nov. 17 at WR Ewing in Brownstown. This event, hosted by the chamber and Brownstown Ewing Main Street, will include county, state and federal elective officials and their representatives. Breakfast will be included.
“We are thrilled to bring this lineup of events to Jackson County for local entrepreneurs and big thinkers to connect and engage,” chamber Director Dan Robison said.
“We are leveraging the Community Collaboration Fund grant from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to pull our local big thinkers out of the woodwork, get them connected and start developing a supportive ecosystem around them,” he said. “The sooner we can surround our local entrepreneurs with the network and resources they need, the sooner we can put Jackson County on the map as the best place to launch and scale a new business in rural Indiana.”
To learn more about SPARK Jackson County or to register for any of the local Global Entrepreneurship Week events, visit jacksoncountychamber.com/spark.