Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Meeting Aligns with Chicago’s Economic Growth Plan

The Center for Productive Longevity (CPL), which serves as the bridge between older people and opportunities for them to continue in productive activities, is holding its third meeting in the “Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Baby Boomers” series on Thursday, October 11. The meeting will be held in Wieboldt Hall on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University/Kellogg School. To register, view the agenda and its outstanding speakers, visit http://www.ctrpl.org/october-11-2012. Participants must be 50 and older and register by October 5.

The meetings are designed to contribute to a national momentum for new-business creation, which will help Baby Boomers 50+ to remain productively engaged and to continue adding value. In fact, the event aligns with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s ten strategic objectives to achieve economic growth for Chicago.

In February, Mayor Emanuel included entrepreneurship in his regional economic growth plan, which was created to articulate clear, actionable strategies to stimulate economic growth and job creation in Chicago. The plan contains ten strategies to advance the city’s economy and to make it a better destination for families and businesses.

World Business Chicago, which is leading the steering committee for Mayor Emanuel’s vision, published “A Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs” in March 2012. The report outlines strategies that have a direct effect on economic prosperity and lead to initiatives that will improve the overall quality of life in Chicago. One critical strategy focuses on the importance of entrepreneurship.

It states, “We should build on recent entrepreneurial momentum by expanding the networks that connect entrepreneurs with customers, venture capital, and mentorship opportunities. We should implement new, targeted initiatives focused on promising clusters. And we should facilitate stronger connections between academic research and private industry to promote higher rates of innovation in our firms and to increase industry-driven research, development and commercialization at universities.”

CPL’s meeting helps to meet those objectives and will include presentations from three successful entrepreneurs. It will also include two rounds of interactive breakout sessions on topics relating to new-business creation and on how to become an entrepreneur.

The featured speakers include:

·      Dr. Paul Magelli is senior director of the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has held a number of positions at the University of Illinois, including assistant dean of the MBA program and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Magelli has also just completed his second climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro at age 80.

·      James Shein is professor of entrepreneurship at Kellogg School’s Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice and an academic director of the Successful Corporate Renewal executive program. He previously spent four years as president and CEO of R.C. Manufacturing, and ten years as president and chief executive officer of Northbrook Corporation.

·      Larry Levy is founder and chairman of Levy Restaurants and chairman and CEO of The Levy Organization. He co-founded Levy Restaurants in 1978 and served as CEO until December 2003. Levy Restaurants’ diverse portfolio includes a network of acclaimed restaurants throughout the country and abroad. They also pioneered the concept of catering in sports and entertainment facilities, including stadiums and convention centers, in every major U.S. market. Levy has served as a chairperson and board member for a wide variety of organizations and has received numerous awards.

·      Carol Levy is co-founder of Material Possessions, a home décor store that has proven to be successful for nearly 30 years. With her combination of entrepreneurial spirit and imaginative thinking, she helped expand Material Possessions to a downtown Chicago location. In 2004, she and her husband, Larry, founded the Larry and Carol Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice at the Kellogg School. They took the venture a step further in 2007 by establishing the Carol and Larry Social Entrepreneurial Lab.

·      Nancy Rodriguez is founder and president of Food Marketing Support Services (FMSS), which she started in 1985. FMSS is a contractual research and development company that services both the retail (supermarkets) and food service (restaurants) industries.

The “Spotlight on Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Baby Boomers” meeting is limited to 125 participants. The charge of $35 per person covers a spouse, if desired, and a post-meeting workshop on the “how-tos” of creating a new business. The Kellogg School, AARP, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) and CPL are among the meeting sponsors.

The first meeting in the series was held at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, MO on March 27, and the second was held at Babson College in Wellesley, MA on September 14; the fourth and final meeting in the series will be held at the University of Denver on November 15.

For more information on CPL and these meetings, visit www.ctrpl.org or Facebook at www.facebook.com/CTRPL.