LAUNCH Marks Global Entrepreneurship Week with “Inside Look”
Chattanooga, TN (November 9, 2011) – As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, LAUNCH is advocating the importance of entrepreneurship in low-income communities with its inaugural open house, “Inside Look,” which will be held at Howard High School on Tuesday, November 15th.
LAUNCH is a non-profit initiative whose mission is to equip individuals and businesses from underserved communities with a continuum of job training, business planning and mentoring programs.
The initiative is inviting members of Chattanooga’s business community to observe Howard High School students engaging in SpringBoard – a business planning course designed to help entrepreneurs create more sustainable business ventures. LAUNCH is using the curriculum to spark students’ interests in starting their own businesses after high school or college.
Scheduled as a Global Entrepreneurship Week activity, this “Inside Look” is intended to demonstrate the critical role of entrepreneurship in addressing the chronic unemployment and crime plaguing economically depressed areas.
“Our aim is to create better career opportunities for struggling individuals in low-income neighborhoods by connecting them to resources, training and mentors,” said Hal Bowling, executive director for LAUNCH. “Our entrepreneurship program at Howard is an effort to start that process early by giving young people greater access to the information and support system necessary for pursuing entrepreneurship.”
In partnership with Co.Lab, Lamp Post Group and Chattanooga Renaissance Fund (CRF), LAUNCH brought SpringBoard to Howard High School as a year-long after school program. Students are being mentored by business and entrepreneurship majors at UTC as they work in groups to create operative business plans and compete for a $2,000 start-up investment from CRF. The competition will take place at UTC on March 11, 2012.
“Our work also involves recruiting business professionals to become invested in the careers of individuals in the inner-city through mentoring,” said Mr. Bowling. “Our open house will be a chance for people to learn about how they can partner with us to accelerate economic activity and create greater self-sufficiency in Chattanooga’s low-income communities.
For more details and to RSVP to the event, visit launchchattanooga.org.
CONTACT:
Hal Bowling; Executive Director
423-400-6422