Written by:
Gustav Plato
iiGrowth, a co-founder of the Greenfire Strategy Consortium was a host to over 30 8(a) executives at the University Club in Washington DC on November 16, 2007. iiGrowth, along with various business partners developed this program to help emerging and mid-sized companies further understand the government marketplace and seize opportunities for growth.
The intimate nature of this session was well received and the participants were highly energized by keynote speaker, Dan Alexander, who spoke on the subject of how to land and leverage government contracts. The group also gained valuable lessons learned from the other panelists, Aldo Bello (CEO of Mind and Media) and Phong Mai(President and CEO).
For more information about this and other iiGrowth and GreenFire Strategy events, please contact Gustav Plato at gplato@iigrowth.com.
Written by:
Gustav Plato
Social Entrepreneurship is rapidly gaining recognition in the United States as a new and much needed discipline to promote social change. Social entrepreneurs are individuals who have recognized a social need and use the principles of entrepreneurship to form, organize, lead, and manage ventures whose vision and mission is to make social change.
Teardrops to Rainbows (T2R) is led by social entrepreneur, Lois Lyons. T2R recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. Teardrops to Rainbows (T2R) is a recognized 501(c)(3), organization based in Fairfax, Virginia which provides support, services and financial assistance to area children with cancer and their families. T2R plays an active role in helping families through the many stages of treatment for a life-threatening illness. (see www.teardropstorainbows.org for getting involved or supporting T2R) ,
The recent T2R fifth anniversary holiday dinner was one of the more special nights and events that iiGrowth founder, Gustav Plato, has had the privilege to attend. It was a unique experience. In attendance were hundreds of volunteers and supporters who have been working with T2R on a daily basis. Together they have already built a wonderful and dynamic community. As the next stage of growth for the T2R community, Lois Lyons, and the board of T2R, have engaged with iiGrowth to chart a course for the future.
T2R is working wonders by seizing opportunities others have missed, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change the approaches to those fighting cancer for the better. iiGrowth will work with T2R using our idea to growth framework to look for the next generation of innovation and implement these solutions to help the T2R community.
Written by:
Gustav Plato
iiGrowth, is teaming with the Center for Acellerating Innovation (President of the Center is Egils Milbergs) to evaluate the feasibility of a United States and Baltic Business Acellerator (USBBA). iiGrowth and the Center of Acellerating Innovation will launch a web site by early 2008 to foster the rapid development of a US and Baltic economic business network. USBBA is envisioned to provide a trans-Atlantic bridge to foster and promote trade between the United States and the Baltic Region. The USBBA would be a catalyst for launching collaborative business ventures between the United States and the Baltic Sea Region. It is envisioned that the USBBA will be comprised of virtual Web 2.0 collaborative environments and physical centers.
The USBBA ecosystem will include industry, investors, academic, and government partners. They will work together to foster the following:
· Economic matchmaking and partnership· Access to debt and equity financing· Grants to fund selected projects, joint ventures· Education and knowledge dissemination· Product and Service innovation
The initial targeted sectors for economic cooperation include the following:
· Environment and environmentally friendly products· Energy· High technology (nano-technologies, hardware, web, and software programming)· Consumer and Retail Products· Other Manufacturing
The USBBA will aid the Baltic countries in shifting their business portfolio from trade and agricultural to an emphasis on value added manufacturing (across all industry sectors) and strenghtening the econmic bond between the United States and the Baltic Region. For more about the USBBA project contact gplato@iigrowth.com.
Written by:
Gustav Plato
Business ecosystems are economic communities that produce goods and services that have value to customers. They are made up of interacting organizations such as the customers, producers and their business partners, financial institutions/venture capital, and government. They also include academia.
As part of iiGrowth’s efforts in emergent thinking for our clients on how to evolve business ecosystems as a foundation for growth strategy, we visited with several academic instituions the week of 26 November, 2007.
iiGrowth had an opportunity to visit with some of the pre-eminent thought leaders that are devoted to new research and hands-on support to emerging and medium sized businesses. Tremendous work is being done right here in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area by several leading higher education institutions including George Mason University, George Washington University, University of Maryland College Park, and University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Our site visits included the following highly respected individuals and centers:
Each of these individuals and institutions are thought leaders in their field with an emphasis on helping emerging and medium sized businesses both here in the United States and Internationally. From Strategy to Execution, their experience and knowledge, helps entrepreneurs better understand how to plan and implement strategy on a rapid scale. Importantly, they value relationships, networks, and collaboration as the cornerstone for maturing business ideas. It is precisely because of this philosophy, that iiGrowth visited with these individuals. They educate and coach current entrepreneurs and the new class of entrepreneurs being groomed at each of the higher learning institutions.
For more about how to apply leading edge thinking to your business or staff, contact iiGrowth and we can point you in the right direction. You can contact iiGrowth at gplato@iigrowth.com.
