ANN ARBOR ? The Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest business-training program made the next round of 179 finalists in the running to receive a portion of the $100 million or so up for grabs in Gov. Jennifer Granholm?s 21st Century Jobs Fund.
GLEQ applied not as a business-plan competition, rather as a statewide technology networking group, said Executive Director Art DeMonte. It?s wrinkle to catch the Fund?s attention was it applied in the Jobs Fund I commercialization category. The Fund?s board will come to Ann Arbor on Aug. 15 to conduct a final interview. Speaking on behalf of GLEQ will be DeMonte and Jack Aherns, a cofounder of TGAP Ventures in Kalamazoo, who heads up the coaching panel.
?We?ve got a great track record in finding management talent, board members, financing, as well as key service providers like legal and accounting,? DeMonte said. ?For instance, one of our 2001 winners, Neural Intervention Technologies, was just acquired by WL Gore & Associates of Gore-Tex fame.?
The real strength of GLEQ, Aherns said, is it has become the glue that binds together all the other regional entrepreneur groups in the state.
?We are just interested in helping all Michigan entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs in a geographic area of the state,? he said. ?We?re working now to take advantage of other people?s programs, like Automation Alley and Southwest Michigan First, to endorse what they are doing. GLEQ is positioned to capitalize on all these other efforts to give all these entrepreneur-focused program statewide reach.
DeMonte declined to disclose how much GLEQ is seeking from the 21st Century Jobs Fund, but said the proceeds would be used to help fund operations for another year.
For more information, click on GLEQ.Org
