Mark Walker speaks at the Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities conference. Jeri Packer
About 150 participants came during the two-day seminar, meeting for two sessions at city hall. Jeri Packer
Artist and teacher Jason Stier met with his class at the Gold Rodent Art Gallery, the perfect venue for talking about the importance of art. Jeri Packer
About 150 participants came during the two-day seminar, meeting for two sessions at city hall and the rest all over town. Jeri Packer
Participants in the recent
Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities conference were turned loose on the downtown streets of Port Huron for two days. The weather was perfect. People abandoned their cars and, instead of driving, used their legs to get from one break-out session to the next.
About 150 entrepreneurs already in business and those who were curious about starting a small business came to the event, sponsored by the
Michigan State University Extension and several local groups. There were about 40 breakout groups to chose from.
Mark Walker, CEO of
Michigan Mutual, Inc., started the conference off as the keynote speaker Wednesday morning. Walker says that in order to be a successful entrepreneur, he or she must have complete confidence in themselves, having the attitude that "if this doesn't work, something else will."
Also, he believes that every business should have a set of core values that each employee from the top to bottom abides by. "If their values don't align, it doesn't work," he says. "We hire and fire by it." Walker also encouraged the audience to not be afraid of stepping outside their comfort zone on the way to owning their own business.
Artist and teacher Jason Stier met with his class at the
Gold Rodent Gallery, the perfect venue for talking about the role of art in bringing people and communities together and tapping into your creative side.
And
Thumb Coast Brewing Company hosted a popular breakout session. Over a craft beer or hard cider, the group discussed the challenges and triumphs of launching out into a career in making beer.
The 2017 Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities conference is in Howell, Michigan. Visit
the CEC website for more information.
In photo above: entrepreneurs Dennis Doyle of ThumbCoast, Pamela Dusci of American Patriot Hops and Scott and Shannon Schwabe of Hoppily Ever After are pictured with participants in their breakout session. Dusci is on far left in front; the Schwabes on the right front, and Doyle at the top of the stairs in the brewery.
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