Olokun Minerals reposted this
Activation Capital, GO Virginia Region 4, and a broad coalition of stakeholders hosted the inaugural Central Virginia Regional Entrepreneurship Summit this week as we unveiled a new regional entrepreneurship action plan! “When we all show up and lock arms, things happen,” said Chandra Briggman, CEO of Activation Capital. The first ever summit was designed to motivate, inform, and inspire action as we mark the transition from planning to beginning our ambitious work together. Hosted at the Bon Secours Training Center, the event included welcoming remarks from Chandra Briggman, CEO of Activation Capital, and the Honorable Secretary Caren Merrick, Virginia Commerce & Trade. John Harthorne, Former CEO and Founder of MassChallenge, Founder and Managing Director at Two Lanterns Venture Partners, delivered an inspiring keynote address. The Central Virginia Regional Entrepreneurship Summit also included an informative presentation from Jen Finn, Co-Chair of Activation Council, who shared the collaborative work that has been performed by a wide array of stakeholders over the past year that will directly impact Small Business, Rural Business, Deep Tech Business, and Scalable Tech. Heather Lyne, Executive Director of the Hopewell Downtown Partnership, presented on the topic of rural and Main Street; Michael Mancini, VP of Entrepreneurship and Ecosystem Development at Activation Capital, presented on Deep Tech; and Richard Wintsch, Executive Director of Startup Virginia, presented on the topic of Scalable Tech. Additionally, Ace Callwood Director at Envoy, shared the importance of industry clusters, while Lauren M., Director of Economic Development & Community Engagement at Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation led an engaging panel discussion featuring Pilanda Watkins-Curry, Ph.D., of Olokun Minerals; Jill Donaldson of Pastry Base; Chaun Burnette, of EighthParallel; and Natalie Green, of Handmade on the Farm. Mark Webb, Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Dominion Energy, delivered the closing remarks to cap off an evening designed to celebrate our new regional entrepreneurship action plan! #innovationecosystem #innovation #mainstreet #deeptech #scalabletech #ruralbusiness #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship #activationcapital
Thank you for inviting @Olokun Minerals and sharing our start-up journey in the deep tech entrepreneur space.
Great job, Region 4! Enjoyed the speakers and read out on the situation analysis results from your hard work.
This was a great summit to kick off this transformational initiative advanced by Region 4 and Activation Capital!
Let's do big things together! Thank you!
Well done.
Great event! Can't wait to see what's next for the region.