Metro State’s Center for Innovation is expanding its reach to promote vibrant entrepreneurial spirit throughout the College and the greater Denver community.

Monthly workshops seek to jumpstart success
A fortuitous invitation to a celebratory gathering paved the way for Center for Innovation Director Mick Jackowski to make a difference with homeless men.

When local nonprofit group Step 13 held their 25-year anniversary event, Jackowski was there with his thinking cap on. A transitional living program, Step 13 serves addicted homeless individuals who show a desire to break the “alcohol, drug, shelter and soup kitchen dependency cycle and become productive members of society.”

After the event, Jackowski approached the group about working with a few of their most promising clients to explore, over the course of nine months, the principles behind starting a successful business.

On Sept. 24, the collaborative effort kicked off in an hour-long workshop session that had Jackowski asking the three chosen participants to identify their personal values– the first step in forming a business plan. Future topics will build upon prior sessions and include: identifying passion, finding and solving problems with that passion, determining a vision and mission, constructing business objectives and strategies and developing an action plan.

“When I went to the first class, they were like you and me,” notes Jackowski. “They were extremely intelligent, very bright, very eager. … We had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them.”

While Jackowski acknowledges that the effort is an experiment, he has high hopes that the men will remain enthusiastic throughout the program. Depending on its success, the program might be expanded to include more participants and/or more frequent workshop sessions.

Ultimately, Jackowski says, he and his staff are willing to continue working with this population beyond the scope of the nine-month initiative to help them develop a more-detailed plan, receive mentoring, connect with appropriate resources and launch their business.

“If we could just get one business to start from this, it would be cool,” Jackowski adds. “We hope to make them shining examples of what you can do if you just put your mind to it.”

For more information about Step 13, visit http://www.step13.org/.

E-Mentorship Program opens doors, fosters dialogue
In an effort to act as an entrepreneurial conduit, the center is currently in the process of recruiting entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurial coaches who are willing to serve as mentors for students at Metro State and the Denver Venture School, a public charter high school.

The E-Mentorship Program, a one-year relationship conducted almost entirely via e-mail messages and online discussion forums, is founded on the idea that mentoring is one of the core ingredients of any entrepreneur’s success.

“You talk to any successful entrepreneur and they will say that proper mentorship was a big reason for their success,” says Jackowski. “We realize it takes a lot of time to mentor people. Here’s a way to do it through the wonders of technology. All we ask is that the mentor and mentee communicate once a week.”

Once all e-mentor and e-mentee applications, profiles and contracts are collected, center staff will match them up based on variables such as availability and specialty. A face-to-face session kicks off the mentoring process and the e-mentee and e-mentor identify expectations of the relationship, arrange a schedule for weekly updates and establish the mentee’s annual goals.

“The key thing about entrepreneurship is that it’s not just a career path, it’s a life path,” explains Jackowski.

Jackowski says he hopes that Metro State faculty with an understanding of the guiding principles of entrepreneurship and College alumni who have gone on to business success will step forward as prospective virtual mentors.

Additionally, he says it is very conceivable that Metro State students might eventually serve as mentors to the high school participants.

“They [Denver Venture School students] might have a ‘grown up’ mentor, but they might also have a [Metro State] student mentor who can relate to them on issues that are maybe closer to their age. In time we expect this to flower in many different directions.”

For more information or to apply to become an e-mentor, visit http://www.metrostateinnovate.org/ci/ementorship.shtml.

Web site gets Spanish translation
All existing content on the center’s Web site has recently been fully translated in Spanish through the generous efforts of Assistant Professor of Finance Juan Dempere and Affiliate Faculty in Spanish Wendy Gallagher.

This effort, which will continue as new content is added, is part of the center’s mission to bring entrepreneurial options and opportunities to underserved populations. Jackowski says the growth of the Latino population, at Metro State and throughout Denver, prompted the bilingual transition and serves as a great catalyst for the center to become more customer-friendly by making it easier for a broader audience to engage with and learn about the center.

“It’s about walking the walk, to back up that we’re not just talking the talk,” explains Jackowski.

The Spanish version is available at http://www.metrostateinnovate.org/espanol.