- NACCE will host a two-day workshop on entrepreneurship in Gainesville on Jan. 15-16 at UF Innovate | Accelerate from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
- The $1,300 workshop teaches Gainesville's ecosystem-building model and provides tools for community leaders to support startups and workforce development.
The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) will host a two-day “Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Action: Blueprint Strategies from Gainesville to your Community” workshop on Thursday, Jan. 15, and Friday, Jan. 16.
The workshop will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at UF Innovate | Accelerate @ The Hub (747 SW 2nd Ave., Gainesville).
“Colleges and universities play a crucial role in shaping the local economies, driving workforce development, and innovation ecosystems,” a flyer for the event said. “Gainesville, FL is a successful model of collaboration between educational institutions, businesses, and government agencies to foster community growth. This two-day workshop is designed to share best practices and provide hands-on training for community leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to replicate and adapt these strategies.”
The workshop will feature presentations from various speakers, including Dr. Trenton Hightower, executive director of membership and workforce development for NACCE; Karl LaPan, director of UF Innovate | Accelerate; Tangela Lofton, regional director of the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Florida A&M University (FAMU); Vince Murphy, director of the Everyday Entrepreneur Program for NACCE; Kamal Latham, manager of the F-300 AgFoodTech Innovation Park and Business Incubator; and Jennifer Harrell, assistant director of UF Innovate | Accelerate.
By the end of the two-day workshop, the flyer states that attendees will be able to:
- Understand the key elements of Gainesville’s successful ecosystem-building model.
- Develop strategies to enhance workforce training, entrepreneurship support, and industry partnerships.
- Engage with peers and experts to create actionable plans for their communities.
- Access tools, funding strategies and implementation frameworks to drive sustainable growth.
- Understand how to build the pathway for new business startups to launch and thrive in the community.
The price for the workshop is $1,300 per person. A $2,900 group discount is available for teams of three to five participants.
All attendees will receive a Credly digital badge, certifying professional knowledge of community ecosystem building.
For more information, contact Hightower at hightower@nacce.com.