Peter Hartman, director of the MIT Enterprise Forum Central Coast, shares the events and resources available to entrepreneurs and businesses on the Central Coast California.
The MIT Enterprise Forum has 28 chapters worldwide. Over $2 trillion and 26,000 companies have been started by MIT Alumni. As a result of MIT’s legacy of entrepreneurship, MIT has become a hub for entrepreneurs through the establishment of these worldwide forums. MIT in collaboration with Harvard has also started EDx, providing MIT and Harvard classes free of charge online.
The MIT Enterprise Forum Central Coast holds nine events each year that include presentations by successful entrepreneurs and business owners as well as Round Table discussions covering a wide array of subjects and industries. The Forum’s Board of Directors is comprised of an impressive group of executives and business owners with in-depth experience valuable to entrepreneurs and not limited to technology. Through the Forum’s networking opportunities, they can be reached to discuss mentoring and other help. Connecting people and services throughout the central coast of California is one of the Forum’s primary functions.
Each event is recorded for later broadcasting by the local Cox Cable TV channel. MIT itself is in process of creating its own common platform for sharing events for Forum chapters around the world. A link to this platform will be available by late Fall through the Central Coast website.
As evidence of its excellence, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast received an award this year from South Coast Business & Technology for “Excellence in Service” for the work being done in the community. They were recognized at a gala dinner earlier this year attended by over 700+ business professionals from the Central Coast.
The MIT Enterprise Forum links to both business incubators and accelerators. Incubators have historically increased the success rate of businesses to 97% and often stay active with a business for up to 3 years. An accelerator is a product of the rapid rise of technology and rapidly emerging markets. Accelerators are typically shorter, sometimes only 90 days or 120 days.
Other organizations available to support entrepreneurs and small business include:
- Business Incubators Network of Southern California (BINS), a LinkedIn Group supporting entrepreneurs
- Santa Barbara City College Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
- SCORE
- National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
You may also enjoy our earlier interview with Jerry Knotts of CBIS and CCVF to learn about funding small business.
