From Idea to Market: Building Sustainable Businesses Throughout the Piedmont Triad Region with Lou Anne Flanders-Stec, Executive VP of Entrepreneurship at Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Launch Greensboro

Lou Anne Flanders-Stec is the Executive VP of Entrepreneurship at Launch Greensboro at Greensboro Chamber of Commerce where she develops programs and opportunities that help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses and connect with mentors and venture capital supporters. Launch Greensboro is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs throughout the Triad region through various programs, workshops, and events such as Co//ab, IdeaLaunch, LaunchLab, and Triad Navigator. Lou Anne has worked with dozens of early-stage startup companies throughout her career. She holds an MBA in Finance from the University of North Texas as well as an undergraduate degree from Ouachita Baptist University in Business Administration and has served on numerous boards of national and community organizations including the Angel Capital Association and Greensboro Children’s Museum. She has been recognized as one of the Piedmont Triad’s 50 Most Influential People as well as one of the 2013 Top Women in Business in the Triad.

Shawn Gagne is the Founder and CEO of Urban Offsets, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based company focused on helping cities and communities understand the value of urban environments and how they work while building climate resilient communities. The company is building a social media platform for sustainability to help companies and nonprofits locate, invest in, and support natural assets that help protect them from the effects of climate change while managing natural resources and improving sustainability in urban areas.

Lou Anne joins me today to share the programs offered by Launch Greensboro that help entrepreneurs start and grow their business. She highlights how each program is tailored to start-ups at different stages of development, including pitch events, weekend workshops, and in-depth multi-week courses. I also spoke with Shawn to learn more about Urban Offset’s urban sustainability efforts and how the programs from Launch Greensboro played a part in the company’s success.

“Launch Greensboro’s mission is to support entrepreneurs as they start, build, and grow their business. So, from idea pitches to an accelerator program, that is our goal - to help them learn and be skilled so they can begin to build and grow sustainable businesses.” - Lou Anne Flanders-Stec

This week on the Supportedly Podcast:

• Lou Anne’s journey from a family business working with small business entrepreneurs to her role in the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.
• How Launch Greensboro is helping entrepreneurs start, build, and grow their business through programs and coworking spaces, from an idea to creation of a sustainable business.
• How the Co//ab coworking space supports entrepreneurs who want to start a business.
• What is IdeaLaunch and how it helps entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas through monthly pitch events, feedback, and pitch coaching?
• How LaunchCamp Tech and LaunchCamp Creative have helped businesses with customer discovery, market testing, and defining their ideal customers.
• The upcoming 2019 LaunchCamp Side-Gig and how it will help entrepreneurs develop a side-gig/side hustle into a business.
• How the LaunchLab 101 and LaunchLab Growth Series accelerator programs help businesses learn the basics from corporate structure to banking and accounting and beyond.
• How the Triad Navigator helps entrepreneurs connect with resources and events in the community.
• How the First Launch Capital Fund is investing in early-stage businesses.
• The annual Capital Connects pitch event and how it helps entrepreneurs raise capital.
• The type of entrepreneurs and startup businesses that are best suited for the programs offered at Launch Greensboro.
• Shawn’s background and why he created Urban Offsets.
• How the Launch Greensboro programs have helped Urban Offsets find success.

“With Lou Anne on board, we are finding a gathering of resources and a recognition of patterns in the community and getting success stories in place is the next big step for Greensboro.” - Shawn Gagne

The Low-Cost Programs at Greensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Launch Greensboro:

• Co//ab
• IdeaLaunch
• LaunchLab
• Triad Navigator
• First Launch Capital Fund
• Capital Connects

Connect with Lou Anne Flanders-Stec:

• Launch Greensboro
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (336)-387-8300
• LinkedIn

Connect with Shawn Gagne:

• Urban Offsets
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn

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