myliftkk wrote >>
Btw, is there any local way for people who don't have deep pockets to get involved in an entrepreneurial aspect in Columbus? I wondered recently if micro-finance would work here. I've personally laid out modest offers of potential financing to a entrepreneur or two around town if they were interested in growing, but am unaware if any kind of organized group existed for less modest and more focused efforts.
It sounds like you're talking about something funded by individuals, but micro-loans are available in Columbus from ECDI. I did a feature last month about their new "Kitchen Incubator" program, but that also included some more general information:
Amy Szabo: ECDI has been a resource in Central Ohio since 2004, and we are essentially a micro-lender, which means that we provide very small business loans. A micro-loan is a loan that is under $35,000 for a micro-enterprise, which is a business with 5 employees or less and $35,000 or less in initial capitalization. So, the Economic and Community Development Institute is the only SBA intermediary micro-lender in Central Ohio. We also are a U.S. Treasury Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which basically means that we meet a certain level of standards that the US Treasury sets for community lenders. We are the sole micro-lender for Franklin County, the City of Columbus, and we have several other private loan funds and some federal and local funds to lend to new or existing micro-entrepreneurs throughout Central Ohio.
Since 2004, we’ve loaned around $5 million to hundreds of entrepreneurs to help them get their businesses started, help them expand their businesses, and help them stabilize their businesses. We’re a pretty unique resource in Central Ohio.
I'm not sure what their success/failure rate is like, but it sounds like the service they provide has a lot of potential for growing certain sectors of our entrepreneurial community. I've mentioned them to a lot of people lately, and it's surprising that few have actually ever heard of them.
myliftkk wrote >>
Perhaps Walker could setup a CU award/grant for the most promising entrepreneurial idea starting up in the central Columbus area. He could take donations for the award from CU posters to the "what do you want to see in SN/WP/GV/VV/IV?" thread. We could call it the CU Armchair Entrepreneur award (maybe even include a bronze statuette). :)
That's actually a pretty cool idea. I had thought about something similar for individual artist grants after the hoopla following GCAC's cancellation of their program.
Hrm... the gears are turning... ;)
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Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.