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Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News May 27, 2005 - New group aims to foster entrepreneurs By Mae Schultz, for the Daily Tribune Organizers of a new business club are looking for a few good entrepreneurs. Members of the Community Progress Initiative's small business industry cluster group plan to start a club called the Entrepreneurial Business to Business Club. Its mission? To foster small business growth. "Anybody who is interested in being an entrepreneur or has a hobby that they want to turn into a business is invited to come," said cluster member Heather Wessling. She hopes the group - which will have its first meeting June 1 - will provide "a safe environment where (entrepreneurs) can test their ideas and the feasibility of their ideas." The first meeting will feature speaker Michael Jones, marketing consultant. There also will be an optional workshop after the meeting. A similar club in Juneau County has 65 to 70 members, who regularly attend meetings, Wessling said. Alan Panek, co-chairman of the small business cluster, is optimistic about the Wisconsin Rapids-area club. "It's going to be a success based on the level of respect and enthusiasm we have already received," he said. The industry cluster also runs Entrepreneurial Boot Camps, which are intensive, four-day learning programs for entrepreneurs. Wessling said she hopes the new club will provide support for people who have gone through the boot camps. A good strategy is one of the keys to creating a successful business, and the club will help people develop that strategy, said small business cluster co-chairman Steve Lewallen. "Our intent is that when people walk in the door to have their mind open as a parachute and catch it all," he said. Both the small business cluster and the new club come from the Community Progress Initiative, a one-year-old initiative meant to help foster economic growth in Wisconsin Rapids and surrounding communities. The new business club can help entrepreneurs and all Wisconsin Rapids-area residents, Wessling said. "(The club is) so important because the growth of small business is the economic strategy of the growth of a community," Wessling said. "Small business is what is driving the economy in the United States."
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