With a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and a match from Buncombe County, A-B Tech Community College has established an Entrepreneur in Residence program that “supports develop, implement and manage the process of identifying local, early stage companies with high growth potential. The EIR — Tom Ryan — will “coach, mentor and advise founders on venture growth issues.” Here’s the news from A-B Tech:
A-B Tech Community College was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., to fund the establishment of an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program at the college. Grant funds were matched with funds from Buncombe County and College resources for a total of $100,000 for the project.
The program will support growth companies and will develop collaborative programming between A-B Tech and Catawba Valley Community College that will leverage existing support structures for emerging, growth companies. A-B Tech was one of five schools, nationally, receiving a grant from the Kauffman Foundation.
The EIR program will develop, implement and manage the process of identifying local, early stage companies with high growth potential, while the EIR will coach, mentor and advise founders on venture growth issues. Tom Ryan has been selected to fill that position. Ryan will provide hands-on assistance to select growth companies, offer small and large group advising sessions and connect entrepreneurs to available resources.
Ryan has lived in Asheville for 10 years and most of his career has been in entrepreneurial ventures, starting his first business right out of college. “I’m passionate about improving the local economy by helping businesses get off the ground and thrive. I’ve always found time to coach and mentor young companies, so it’s natural fit,” he said.
“The vision has always been to work with as many partners as possible to enhance the resources available in the region. This EIR initiative is an important piece in offering additional education and support to entrepreneurs,” said Shelley White, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at A-B Tech.
A-B Tech’s Small Business Center has a great deal of resources to support start up companies, which are in an early stage of ideation and formation, according to White. “There’s a lot of support for start ups in this early stage of development in the area including A-B Tech, Mountain BizWorks and other organizations,” she said.
The gap in support was for growth companies. These are companies that have passed the start up point and have probably hired some people. There are in a fast growth, maybe even doubling the size of their market and can’t keep up with themselves. “Someone like Tom has the experience and expertise. He is able to come in, meet with them, understand their company and goals, and work with them to identify the gaps they have. He will then help them find the resource to fill that gap,” White said.
“It’s a very exciting time in Asheville for entrepreneurs. The energy, enthusiasm, and essential resources are building rapidly, which are key to developing a highly productive start-up ecosystem. We have no problem attracting great entrepreneurs to the mountains, and the EIR ” Ryan said.
According to Ryan, connectivity is the key. “There are great resources in town for growing companies, but you first have to know they exist, which ones are the best fits, and how best to plug into them. I think that is one of the biggest challenges facing early stage operators. As a region, we need more connectivity to capital and prospective sources of it. I feel this program can be extremely complementary to what Venture Asheville and others are doing,” he said.
LINES – A-B Tech’s EIR, Tom Ryan, (center) with local entrepreneurs, Ted Pate, Flori Pate, Meg Ragland and Jesse Lee.
About A-B Tech
One of 58 colleges in the North Carolina Community College System, A-B Tech offers associate degrees, diplomas and certificates in more 50 curriculum programs through its five academic divisions: Allied Health and Public Service Education, Arts and Sciences, Business and Hospitality Education, Emergency Services and Engineering and Applied Technology. The Division of Economic and Workforce Development/Continuing Education offers opportunities for workforce partnerships, specific job training and retraining, as well as personal enrichment classes. A-B Tech enrolls more than 25,000 curriculum and continuing education students in programs at its Asheville, Enka, Madison, South, Woodfin and Goodwill locations.
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