Adams Fellowship consolidates entrepreneurs at Automation Alley

The Adams Fellowship Program is consolidating resources in Automation Alley with the help of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

The economic accelerator will serve as the base for program, which will pair four aspiring entrepreneurs with start-ups. "We put them in a highly entrepreneurial climate for one year," says Terry Cross, executive director of the Adams Fellowship Program. "They are paid a $60,000 annual stipend for that year."

The main focus is to direct more talented recent college graduates toward a career as a serial entrepreneur. The fellows will be paired with executives in these start-ups who will give them first-hand experience about the ups and downs of building a business. The fellows will also work with Cross, a serial entrepreneur and successful angel investor who was one of the early investors in Google among other high-tech ventures.

"They will be in up to their eyeballs in entrepreneurial activity," Cross says.

The Adams Fellowship Program has provided these learn/work experiences since 2001, working with the major universities in Metro Detroit. The move to consolidate the efforts at Automation Alley is to eliminate duplication of administrative overhead.

For information on the Adams Fellowship Program, click here.

Source: Terry Cross, executive director of the Adams Fellowship Program
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.