VIDEO: North Front Entrepreneur Alliance
Utah Pulse speaks with Curt Roberts, Director of the Northern Utah Technology Outreach Center for USTAR, about the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance.
Grow Utah Ventures and SEED Weber/Davis/Morgan have announced the formation of the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance, a professional association for Northern Utah's entrepreneurs.
The North Front Entrepreneur Alliance was created to provide a forum for entrepreneurs in Northern Utah to regularly meet and network. There is currently nothing like this in Northern Utah and it's anticipated that this alliance will do a lot to foster entrepreneurism in Northern Utah.
"Given the excitement for entrepreneurism up North, we felt it was time to organize a support organization in Northern Utah," said Alan Hall, Founder and Chairman of Grow Utah Ventures and member of SEED WDM Entrepreneurial Council. "We really believe that entrepreneurism happens on a local level and by forming the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance we can create a system of support, mentoring and training that will help build and encourage more entrepreneurism at a local level in this region."
The announcement was made as part of Grow Utah Ventures' Business Ignitor and Live Pitch event. Business Ignitor events are the premier networking events in Utah and this specific event is the first this year in a series of Ignitor events scheduled throughout Utah.
Funding Universe helps organize the Live Pitch portion of the events which puts entrepreneurs in front of a panel of angel investors to pitch their ideas. Each entrepreneur has approximately 5 minutes to pitch their idea. At the end of the event, the panel of angel investors will pick the idea they think is the best and provide expert feedback as to why they chose it.
"Entrepreneurs really struggle to find mentors and to get others involved with bringing their ideas to fruition," said T. Craig Bott, President and CEO of Grow Utah Ventures. "Studies show that businesses get started through networking events, by bringing entrepreneurs and business people with varying degrees of expertise together to create new ideas, stimulate business development and support for potential and existing entrepreneurs."
Over the last two years, Grow Utah Ventures has worked with governmental and community leaders to design a Strategy for Expanding Economic Development in Weber, Davis and Morgan Counties (SEED Weber/Davis/Morgan).
Moving forward, a SEED Weber/Davis/Morgan governing board will direct the activities for the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance, including meeting schedules and award recognitions. The governing board is co-chaired by two successful northern Utah entrepreneurs, Brad Walters of Early Run Investments and Curt Roberts, USTAR Outreach Director and Weber State University Vice Provost. Craig Bott and Alan Hall will also serve on the council's board of directors.
"We're dedicated to supporting, training and mentoring entrepreneurs in Utah," added Bott. "By forming the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance we'll be able to better serve entrepreneurs by providing these services while also leveraging the strengths of their communities and regional expertise."
For more information about the North Front Entrepreneur Alliance please visit www.NorthFront.org
