LBWN Business Plan Competition

Layton Boulevard West Neighbors is looking for new or expanding businesses interested in locating in Silver City to apply and compete in its Business Plan Competition. The winner will receive an award package valued at over $12,000, including financial and other incentives, a newly renovated business space, rent discounts, free professional services and $5000 to jump-start the business.  Applications and more information can be found on the LBWN website at: www.lbwn.org/businessplancompetition.

In an effort to continue the strong development taking place in the Silver City neighborhood, LBWN and Impact Seven are rehabbing a foreclosed commercial property on National Avenue in the Silver City Business District for a prospective business owner with a unique and compelling business plan. Silver City is an exciting business district that features restaurants, bars and shopping experiences from a variety of countries. The space is located at 3519 West National Avenue and is close to some great Milwaukee attractions including the Mitchell Park Domes, the Urban Ecology Center, Miller Park, the Hank Aaron State Trail, and some of the best housing stock in the City of Milwaukee. This one-story commercial space boasts a tin ceiling and nearly 2000 square feet. The winner of the Competition will have the chance to provide input into the final design of this space.

A Letter of Intent to submit a proposal is due on May 31, 2013 and the final submission is due on June 30, 2013. For more information, contact Natanael Martinez, Economic Development Manager at LBWN: natanael@lbwn.org, 414-383-9038 x2511

Startup of the Week: VibeTech

Have you ever suffered from a sports-related injury such as an ACL tear or ankle sprain? Do you know someone who recently had joint surgery? Or perhaps you have a family member who uses a wheelchair or walker. Whether age, disability, illness, inactivity, injury or surgery keeps you off your feet, it’s important to engage in physical therapy before muscle weakness, balance impairment and reduced flexibility take hold.

VibeTech founder and CTO, Jeff Leismer, PhD, invented the foundational vibration technology of the VibeTech One (TM) Rehabilitation Chair as a countermeasure to disuse atrophy in astronauts whose strength had been compromised due to the negative effect of long duration space flight. In collaboration with VP of Product Development, Nadder Sahar, PhD, VibeTech has developed a quick, relaxing, non-weight bearing neuromusculoskeletal stimulation device for the treatment of patients in physical therapy clinics, rehabilitation centers and elder care facilities. Learn more at www.vibetechglobal.com.

 

Startup of the Week: ZoomShift

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Employee Scheduling Software

ZoomShift helps small businesses operate better by giving them an easy way to schedule and communicate with their employees. With ZoomShift managers can create and post schedules quickly, and send email and text message notifications to everyone in the group. Employees are then able to sign in and see when they work, trade shifts with other employees, make availability requests and communicate with the whole team from anywhere at any time.

ZoomShift is positioned as a simple solution to a complex problem and serves restaurants, retail stores, universities, customer support teams, volunteer organizations and many other small businesses - including Chick-Fil-A, Sonic, Plato’s Closet and Little Caesars to date. ZoomShift uses a freemium model to give groups a chance to try out the software for 30-days risk free. After the trial ends, groups can continue using ZoomShift for a monthly fee based on the number of employees in the group. Any group with five employees or less can use ZoomShift for free forever.

Recently, Zoomshift launched a new, fully mobile, responsive version of their software. They’ve seen an uptick in sign ups, including free trials from software giants such as Google, 37Signals and SquareSpace.

Startup of the Week: Golf Pipeline

Golf Pipeline is quickly becoming the Facebook and OpenTable for the golf industry. Just as OpenTable did for the restaurant industry, Golf Pipeline offers golfers the ability to book tee times at their favorite local golf courses. And, using the power of social networks, golfers can invite their friends to play golf by selecting from fellow Golf Pipeline friends, Facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts or using a friend’s email address. Golfers can return to the website to track their scores, establish a USGA Handicap Index®, build a golf profile (which shows a golfer’s equipment and other preferences to Golf Pipeline friends) and see all golfer friend activity — who played where, what scores they posted and who became friends with whom.

Golf Pipeline has 350 golf courses available to book tee times at in 23 states, but heavily concentrated in Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Detroit. However, the Golf Pipeline website is able to be used by any golfer and for any golf course in the United States — public or private. For golf courses that don’t yet offer tee times on Golf Pipeline, a golfer can manually add their tee time (and invite their friends to join) and post their score. Check out this great addition to your golf game. It’s FREE to join and once you do, you can use the social features to invite your golfer friends into your Golf Pipeline network!

GE Healthcare Global Design Challenge

We’re looking for new ideas from new people to help us build them! 

Wanted:  Fresh, Milwaukee area communications and creative agencies with the talent to help us build and deliver powerful messages for our global brand. Interest in underground initiatives, where ideas are in early proof of concept phases, is a must.   

We will pitch to YOU! 

We are experimenting with a new way to develop relationships with innovative, creative firms. We want you to get to know us and for us get to know you in an open format. We will immerse you briefly in our work and methods, reflect on your observations, and lay out the details of our impending projects. 

May 23 (If you have what it takes, you’ll make it in. For now, hold the date)

10am-1pm

GEHC Global Design Studio, Waukesha, WI 

Interested?
1. Send us a brief description of your firm with contact information. 
2. Link to some of your work
3. Email us the name(s), including a 1 line description, for 1-2 people from your firm that would attend the session in May. 
4. In a few words answer the question, what is your firm’s self-described style and why is it unique? 

Do this by May 10. Mail to Laurie.Schroeder@ge.com Subject: GD Challenge

We will review your interest and select several firms to participate in this first session. Notifications will be made by May 15.

Who is Global Design?
Global Design is a comprehensive, cross-functional design organization within GE Healthcare spread across 6 world class studios in 5 countries.  Our core mission is our responsibility to create breakthrough innovations for GE across all phases of patient care while driving design & design culture across the corporation.  We believe in gaining insights and empathy through cross-industry fertilization and experiences, and as such we actively seek to engage non-healthcare GE businesses to incubate new ideas and connections.  

Announcing our Mentorship Program!

We are excited to announce the launch of the Startup Milwaukee Mentorship program!

The program is designed to support entrepreneurs who are starting technology and technology-enabled service businesses in Southeastern Wiscosnin by connecting entrepreneurs to mentors from the entrepreneurial, corporate, investment and academic communities.

If you are an entrepreneur or mentor who would like to participate in the program, click here!

Midwest Social Innovation Start-Up Challenge

IDEAS? This challenge is an opportunity for students or aspiring entrepreneurs to submit a business model that includes social or environmental impact that makes the world a better place! The challenge is open to any ambitious team or individual who has an idea to create positive social change. Register here by May 20th. Entering is free and easy — and you may enter as many ideas as you like.  Please include a description of the problem you’re solving, the solution you propose and the sustainability (financial, repeatable, scalable) of your idea.  Examples of social innovation start-ups: Dell Social Innovation Challenge Winner

PITCH: The Midwest Social Innovation Start-Up Challenge is one of many Flying Car Innovation Week events in Milwaukee, June 1 -10, 2013.  Up to 20 teams/individuals will be selected to present at June 6th, at ManpowerGroup  World Headquarters.

WIN! 3-5 winning groups will share $15,000 in cash, present their start-up idea at the evening reception, participate in summer workshops and mentoring, receive complimentary tickets to the Flying Car Gala, and advance to the Brady Midwest Regional Championship in August.

CELEBRATE: The challenge will provide excellent networking and learning opportunities with business executives, funders, mentors, local entrepreneurs, and prominent national figures in social innovation.  Join us for the evening reception (open to the public) to showcase the semi-finalist winners at The WhereHouse. 

 
The Midwest Social Innovation Start-Up Challenge is presented by the Marquette Social Innovation Initiative in collaboration with the Brady Corporation, The Business Journal, Cardinal Stritch University, Dell Inc.,Greater Milwaukee Committee (MiKE), Johnson Controls, MIAD, MSOE, and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and parallels the national platform founded by Dell Inc. and the University of Texas – Austin.

Startup of the Week: Okanjo

Okanjo (oh-kahn-jo), which means “checkout” in Japanese, connects buyers, sellers and communities with the things they care about. Headquartered in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, Okanjo launched on February 1. The site is a national platform, like eBay, with the locality of Craigslist, featuring a secure transactional platform. Okanjo also makes giving easy by providing sellers the opportunity to donate a portion or all of their proceeds from sales to any cause that they care about. To start selling easier and buying happier, visit www.okanjo.com.

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National author, coach, and speaker Susan K. Wehrley launches her fifth book, Ignite “The Plan” May 3rd

Susan K. Wehrley’s fifth Ignite “The Plan” is an incredibly powerful true story about her journey with George Dalton, former CEO of the Fortune 500 company that brought us online banking. Throughout their journey for survival-he for 7 months in the ICU, she for the life of her newly born business-each came to realize the American Dream was not about the accumulation of wealth or even working a plan for a particular outcome. It was about learning how to receive and Ignite “The Plan” so each could claim his or her life, live free of fear, and choose to be happy regardless of the circumstances.

Wehrley, a nationally known strategic planning consultant and executive coach, and Founder and CEO of BIZremedies, gives the reader a step-by-step map to navigate their way out of lack, frustration, disappointment, and stress so you can more efficiently achieve any goal. By following “The Plan,” which empowers us to shift from fear to a life of freedom and happiness, we can go about our life and work with less stress. By letting go of our E.G.O.—Edging Out God-and connecting to our Spirit before executing, we can each develop the Entrepreneurial Spirit within that allows us to move forward in a more empowered way, regardless of our circumstances or position.

John E. Schlifske, chairman and CEO of Northwestern Mutual who reviewed the book said, “Susan shows us how to take the E.G.O. out of work, and our lives, so we can create a more entrepreneurial culture that ignites enthusiasm and drives results!”

Wade Mauland, Campus Executive and Professor at Ottawa University, said this after previewing Wehrley’s book, “Filled with entrepreneurial spirit, Susan conveys in a compelling and provocative way the trials and tribulations inherent in starting your own venture. Witty, wise and wonderfully endearing, this insightful book will resonate with you, whether you’re an experienced veteran or someone who wants to create your own enterprise. You can achieve your dream by using “’The Plan’ as your roadmap to success.”

Ottawa University’s Brookfield campus, 245 S. Executive Drive, is hosting the launch for Wehrley’s new book, Friday, May 3, 2013 from 3-5 PM.  The event is free and will include a one-hour talk by Wehrley. In addition, Wehrley is offering a nationwide book promotion that includes $1,000 of consulting and vendor services from varying consultants when you buy the book for $19.95 on Amazon.com on May 3rd (you do not have to be present at the event to take advantage of the book promotion). The promotion also includes a one-month free membership to BIZremedies’ Leadership Hub with Wehrley’s patented online planning software and follow-up book webinars to Ignite “The Plan.” You can learn more about the event and book promotion at www.IgnitethePlan.com.

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