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08.07

IEEE-USA Entrepreneurial Village Offers Virtual Community to U.S. IEEE Members

By Sharon Richardson

IEEE-USA believes that the development of small business is critical to the economic and career vitality of the United States, as well as the IEEE membership. Nearly 500,000 new small businesses are created every year; yet many fail because new business owners don’t have the information necessary to get a good start in their businesses. The IEEE’s interest in entrepreneurs is logical; the success of the U.S. economy is based on innovative technology, and the IEEE is the largest professional engineering association in the world, with resources that cover technology, employment and government activities.

Responding to U.S. IEEE member needs with regard to entrepreneurial ventures, IEEE-USA established the Entrepreneurial Activities Committee (EAC) to provide products, services and support to IEEE members involved in “start-up” companies and small businesses. EAC provides input on legislative and regulatory issues that impact small business. In its efforts to provide entrepreneurs with current policy information, and to help them make well-informed decisions about their businesses, EAC volunteers decided to take their mission a little bit further. They created an Entrepreneurial Village — a Web-based, incubator-like environment that includes an online-virtual community for entrepreneurs.

EAC founded the online Village to help technology-based entrepreneurial businesses start with the right information for growth and success. “After all, large corporations were once small entrepreneurial businesses,” said Mauro Togneri, an EAC member.

The Entrepreneurs Village is home to more than 300 entrepreneurs and is growing steadily. With more than 2,000 visitors a month, the Village is a gathering place that allows the members to become mentors, and offers a sounding board for other entrepreneurs, or those thinking about starting a business. Village members can get input on best practices concerning organizational and legal issues, finance, venture capital, marketing, human resources, asset requirements, growth practices, and many other issues that may arise as part of running and growing a small business.

IEEE-USA encourages Village members and visitors to add resources such as articles, books and links to other pertinent Web sites and event announcements that are useful to entrepreneurs, such as the event IEEE-USA co-sponsored 8 November 2006 , the Art of the Start Conference at Microsoft's Glendale, California office. Geared toward entrepreneurs, the conference provided useful tips from venture capitalists and seasoned entrepreneurs, and was based on founder of Garage.com and former Apple fellow Guy Kawasaki's recent book, Art of the Start. You can view TechCrunch Editor Mike Arrington's chat with Kawasaki on IEEE.tv.

“Another conference is being planned for later this year, and the Committee hopes that there will be IEEE Region Villages and IEEE Section Villages that will also host these kinds of events in the future,” said Togneri.

Another benefit is that the Village allows members to chat live online with other entrepreneurs. The village's networking and knowledge-gathering capabilities are absolutely endless and participation is totally free to IEEE members. The Entrepreneurs Village is a member community, and its success and relevance is heavily dependent on member participation. You can help increase awareness in Regions; identify potential Village members; identify volunteer mentors; participate in webinars; and start a local village. Use this benefit of your IEEE membership to the fullest, and make a difference in the vitality of the U.S. economy. Log on to www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/entrepreneur and join the Village today!

Sharon Richardson is staff assistant for communications at IEEE-USA, and editorial assistant for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Digest. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.