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Entrepreneurial Council
Board Members:
Nathan Fincham, Fincham Financial Group, Chair
Brian Sortor, Sortor Bushido Kai Karate, Past Chair
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Entrepreneurial Council is to cultivate the
entrepreneurial spirit and support small business, thus enhancing the economic
vitality of Bend.
Goals:
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To
enhance the scope of the EC by recruiting new members through outside
networking.
- To
engender within our members a genuine passion for knowledge, an eagerness to
accept constructive criticism and an
enjoyment in sharing ideas.
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To identify new areas of educational
opportunities, on a quarterly basis, to continually improve the quality of
our meetings for our members.
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To provide exemplary models of business
leadership by matching members with experienced business people having
similar industries, businesses, goals or personalities to establish mutually
beneficial relationships.
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To provide members with programs,
resources and contacts to increase the breadth, visibility and profitability
of their ideas and businesses.
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To empower the entrepreneurial spirit of
its members and thus guarantee the highest quality goods and services to
Central Oregon.
The
Entrepreneurial Council of the Bend Chamber is geared towards businesses
that have been in business two or fewer years or have two or fewer
employees. This group is also good for independent business people such as
representatives or agents of larger companies. This group has
two meetings each month.
Peer
Feedback Workshops
There are a million places to network and plenty of educational events, but
the Peer Feedback Workshop is the only place where you can spend time with
entrepreneurs and our experts to get real, hands-on feedback on how to
improve your business practices and materials! On the 2nd Friday of each
month, the council gets together at 8:00 a.m. for coffee and breakfast at
Central Oregon Home Health and Hospice. One or two members give presentations of their promotional
materials, and the audience gives them feedback. There are also
experts present who have special experience or expertise in marketing,
advertising or entrepreneurship who answer questions and give expert
feedback. After that, the floor is opened to all members, who can pass out
their materials, ask the experts and peers question, and work together to
improve their materials and grow their businesses! We also play networking
games geared towards forming meaningful and beneficial professional
relationships between entrepreneurs who in other atmospheres are
reluctant/uncomfortable/inexperienced networkers.
Educational Sessions
On
the 4th Friday of each month, the group meets at 8:00 a.m. at the Central
Oregon Home Health and Hospice. The purpose of this free educational
meeting is to provide entrepreneurs with information from experts on topics
specific to their needs. Every quarter the council votes on the topic of
these meetings. The topic could be something as general as marketing or as
specific as how to write press releases. Once the topic for the quarter is
decided, speakers and panels of experts are chosen to educate the council.
These meetings tend to be more relaxed and dialogue-focused than a
straightforward classroom approach.
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