Asheville Entrepreneurship Week takes place Sept. 2-9

Press release from Hatch AVL:

This month, Mayor Esther Manheimer will sign a proclamation declaring the week of Labor Day in September “Asheville Entrepreneurship Week.” Asheville Entrepreneurship Week is a celebration of Asheville’s growing startups, innovative businesses, and entrepreneurs from every industry.

Led by the Hatch AVL Foundation and Venture Asheville, Asheville Entrepreneurship Week hosts a breadth of events including the Living Asheville Arts Festival (LAAF), 2 Lunch-and-Learns at The Collider, an Intro to the Startup Scene event, WNC Press Pass at Hatchworks, TedXAsheville, and a Coworking Crawl – all in one jam-packed week!

“Entrepreneurship is tangible in this city, the vibrancy and diversity of ventures deserves to be celebrated!” said Venture Asheville Director of Entrepreneurship, Jeffrey Kaplan. “When we talk about entrepreneurship, we don’t just mean someone tinkering away on an app. While important, that is just one facet of a greater entrepreneurial ecosystem. This week identifies and uplifts the entrepreneurs across the ecosystem, so yes we’ll see some high-growth tech companies, but you’ll also see entrepreneurs as artists and craft-makers at LAAF, and you’ll see inspiring speakers at TedX, and you’ll get insight into how to work with some of Asheville’s most innovative press outlets at Friday’s Press Pass.”

The week brings together industry veterans and new entrepreneurs forming valuable connections as they continue to make Asheville a welcome home for innovative thinkers and job creators. Asheville Entrepreneurship Week spans the entire business ecosystem, providing opportunities for everyone from startups to enterprises, and from artists to engineers. Asheville Entrepreneurship Week shines light on the incredible diversity of our entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Hosting the inaugural Entrepreneurship Week in 2017 was such a milestone for the Hatch AVL Foundation and we are thrilled to join forces with area partners to bring the celebration back again this year. Our team is honored to serve the Asheville startup community by offering an environment where founders are supporting founders, and Entrepreneurship Week gives us even more ways to connect with local innovators,” explained Emily Breedlove, Executive Director of Hatch AVL. “With so many stellar organizations helping us to celebrate small business, Hatch encourages all entrepreneurs to come out in September to connect, learn, and grow their tribe!”

This year, the following organizations have collaborated to bring you Asheville Entrepreneurship Week: Hatch AVL Foundation, Venture Asheville, Supportedly, the Collider, 1 Million Cups, and LAAF.

• Sept 2:
  • LAAF (Living Asheville Arts Festival)
    • Join us for a free street festival celebrating all that is Asheville! LAAF hopes to continue to be the best representation of Asheville’s unique arts community!
• Sept 4:
  • Free Collider Lunch and Learn
    • Join Dave Michelson for a hands-on workshop to learn how to build a Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition to quickly validate your business ideas.
    • Intro to the Startup Scene
      • Join Jeff Kaplan, Director of Venture Asheville, and co-founder of Supportedly, Stephanie Kissel for a 1-hour primer on AVL’s startup ecosystem at Hatchworks Coworking. Drinks provided.
• Sept 5:
  • 1 Million Cups 4th Anniversary
    • We can’t wait to celebrate the past 4 years of 1 Million Cups Asheville and YOU, the Asheville startup and entrepreneurial community and #1MCAVL family. Join us for a very special program, live raffle, networking, complementary local bites, coffee, cocktails, and a good time!
  • AVL Chamber of Commerce Smart Series
    • In any presentation, be it professional or for entertainment, every audience’s focus is on the speaker, not on visual aids or fancy tools like PowerPoint presentations or colorful (often overloaded) slides. Sharpening your awareness about the importance you have in front of an audience will make a big impact on how well you deliver a powerful, memorable presentation.
• Sept 6:
  • Free Collider Lunch and Learn
    • We are in the age of customer journeys, hyper-targeted emails, and automated testing where precision is king. But that doesn’t mean you can’t re-define a routine batch and blast in a meaningful way to drive great results, enhance the product experience, and even act as the backbone of your email program. That’s exactly what we’ve done at Grammarly. And others are finding success with flagship emails, too.
  • Asheville Coworking Crawl 5:00 – 8:00 pm 
    • Join 70 other local innovators, disruptors, and entrepreneurs as we tour four of Asheville’s most happening Coworking spaces; Hatch AVL, The Collider, Mojo, and The Focal Point. This Crawl is the best kind of road trip, equipped with short rides, cool friends, big ideas, and local beer! Tickets are $10, must be 21 years old, limited seating. Park at Hatch AVL.
• Sept 7:
  • Intentional Networking and Strategic Network Building 11am
    • If networking makes you feel anxious, self-conscious, or stressed,
      If traditionally taught networking methods don’t resonate with you,
      If you’re interested in learning non-traditional strategies to consciously expand your network and connect with others, If you want to position yourself in a way so that resources, support, and business comes to you instead of chasing it, …then this workshop will be beneficial, insightful, and impactful.

No cost to attend
Register in advance: https://www.ncsbc.net/workshop.aspx?ekey=20380064
AB Tech Small Business Center at Enka, Room 2046
1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler, NC 28715

• WNC Press Pass
  • You’ve got great stories, so let’s get them printed! At the WNC Press Pass, you’ll hear directly from the News Directors of Asheville’s most innovative press outlets on how to submit press releases, present featured story ideas, and secure news coverage to showcase your business in local media. Hatchworks will host a panel of Directors to answer your biggest PR questions! Hear from Capital at Play, AsheVegas, WNC Woman, AVLtoday, Hola Carolina. This is event is free, open to the public, and sells out extremely fast.
• PerCollider Happy Hour 4:30pm
  • The PercCollider is a weekly event for Collider members to connect and collaborate over drinks. As part of Asheville entrepreneurship Week, this event is open to all.
• Sept 9:
  • TedX Asheville
    • The theme ‘Higher Ground’ is about reaching for, and sharing, thought-provoking ideas and sounds from our beautiful mountain city.

Any questions or requests can be directed towards Emily Breedlove, Executive Director of Hatch AVL Foundation at 828-347-6240 or Emily@HatchAVL.org