CSM hosts entrepreneur summit in September

The College of Southern Maryland and the Small Business Development Center will host the 2016 Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summit on the college’s La Plata Campus.

The daylong summit is Thursday, Sept. 8, and will explore ideas needed to accelerate innovative thinking in the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and examine what drives innovation, business growth and technology commercialization, according to a press release.

The summit is 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Center for Business and Industry (BI Building), La Plata Campus, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata.

Speakers will include Don Macke, co-founder and director of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and Carol Kraus Lauffer, a recognized expert, consultant and trainer in business incubation and acceleration.

Macke, who has nearly 40 years of community and economic development and policy experience, will discuss “Defining an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.” Lauffer, as a partner at Business Cluster Development (BCD) for nearly 15 years, will discuss “Tech Commercialization and Incubators.”

There will be several breakout sessions throughout the day including: solving the region’s social and economic challenges with facilitator Angela Singleton; community readiness with Kim Mozingo; opportunities for bringing research and inventions to market with Gary Evans; exploring the business development model that would work best for the region with Lynn Reed Selby; sustainability with Angela Thornton; and leveraging the role of the education and research community with Thomas Luginbill.

The focus of the SBDC is to provide information and guidance for entrepreneurs through various workshops, training sessions and one-onone expert counseling. The CSM SBDC assists more than 400 clients each year. Of those, approximately 250 are existing businesses.

For summit registration, go to https://www.eventbrite. com/e/2016-entrepreeurship-innovation-summit-tickets-26956022188 or call 301934-7583.