07.23.20
Innovation Moshpit Workshop Series for Hoosier Small Business Owners
Tammy Allen, Director | Marketing & Programs, The NIIC
Collide Ideas to Reimagine, Reinvent During COVID-19 Pandemic
For Immediate Release
July 23, 2020, Fort Wayne, Ind.—How often are the words moshpit and innovation used in the same sentence? WBC EmPWR’s Innovation Moshpit™ Workshop Series will be like concertgoers colliding in a moshpit. Yet, the moshpit is the workshop series, convening small business owners to mash-up unrelated ideas and concepts to reimagine their businesses. Registration is open for Hoosier business builders and nonprofit leaders to participate in the workshop series. Enroll on the events page of The NIIC website. https://niic.net/our-events/
WBC EmPWR Innovation Mosh Pit Workshop series begins August 12, 2020, and continues through October 7, 2020. The 10-week virtual program will be co-led by Gregg Fraley, Founder, GFi, and Sarah Lance, WBC EmPWR Program Manager. Workshop participants will move through the Innovation Moshpit’s comprehensive innovation process, which includes three phases. The first phase is exploration or research. The second phase is ideation, otherwise known as brainstorming. The last phase is project planning. Participants could create an entirely new business model, or, a necessary adjustment to the new normal. Participants will develop a solid plan to implement something new, fresh, and exciting for their businesses or organizations.
Participants will use the Innovator Mindset® tool created by Dennis Stauffer to improve their business thinking skills further. Participants will be connected with other non-competitive business peers to network, share problems, brainstorm, and develop solutions that move progress forward and upward.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the economy and our way of life in so many ways. As difficult and frustrating as the COVID-19 pandemic era may be, it provides an opportunity to shake up our businesses to reach new levels of innovation and success. Through the Innovation Mosh Pit Workshops, participants will emerge renewed, with a sense of purpose and redirection,” said Lance. “Creativity and innovation are necessary solutions to succeed now and in the future.“
Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO), the cost to participate is just $30 for the Stormz virtual meeting platform. This program is specifically for women; however, it is also open to everyone with businesses and organizations in 83 Indiana communities served by the WBC EmPWR Program. “COVID 19 is forcing all of us to take a hard look at how we’ve done business in the past, what is working now, and how we will do business in the future,” said SBA Indiana District Director Stacey Poynter. “We’re proud that SBA funding is able to support innovative programs like EmPWR which inspire, teach and support Indiana small business owners.”
Registration for the WBC EmPWR’s Mosh Pit is now open. To register, visit the events page of The NIIC website. https://niic.net/our-events/
Innovation Moshpit™ is a trademark of Gregg Fraley Innovation (GFi). Innovator Mindset® is a registered trademark of Dennis Stauffer.
Contact: Tammy Allen, Director | Marketing & Programs, info@niic.net, 260-407-1731
About The NIIC
467 new products launched, 189 patent applications submitted or granted, and 2,290 jobs created—that is what entrepreneurs have achieved through The NIIC since its inception 20 years ago. The NIIC has also connected Northeast Indiana companies to attract $91 million in grants and capital.
The NIIC is a nonprofit, vibrant entrepreneurial community designed to advise entrepreneurs to plan, launch, and grow successful business ventures by moving ideas into action. The NIIC’s 55-acre campus is a U.S. Small Business Administration HUB Zone and a designated Opportunity Zone through the U.S. Treasury. The NIIC is the country’s only ISO9001:2015 registered business incubation and acceleration program. The NIIC received global recognition in 2020 as the International Business Innovation Association’s Mixed-Use Entrepreneur Center of the Year and recipient of the prestigious Dinah Adkins Award, one of InBIA’s top two honors. TheNIIC.org. Click here for The NIIC press kit.
About WEOC
2,354 women and immigrants served, trained, and counseled—since WEOC’s formation five years ago. The Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center (WEOC) serves Northeast Indiana women at all stages of their business ventures. WEOC responds to the unique needs of women entrepreneurs through business growth coaching, training, and entrepreneurial education, connectivity, and access to capital. WEOC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. As the Host organization, The NIIC also provides supplemental funding and complementary resources. WEOC is an SBA designated Women’s Business Center—one of two in Indiana. For more information, visit www.inweoc.com.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
