Category: Newsletter

EDGE Newsletter – February 2020

 

Lessons from Serial Entrepreneur:

With John Cassimus

Speaking at The EDGE February 12th
Program from 5pm to 6:30pm

Serial entrepreneur and University of Alabama alumnus John Cassimus will be speaking on Wednesday, February 12th at 5:30 p.m. Program starts at 5 pm with networking. Food and beverages will be provided.

Cassimus is best known for taking a single restaurant, Zoë’s Kitchen which was started by his mother Zoë and father Marcus, and growing it into a company operating over 260 fast-casual restaurants in the United States. The restaurant chain was listed on the NYSE until a recent sale of the company. John will share with us his story, lessons learned and news about his latest venture called Crazy Cazboy’s.

             

 


Build a Business Sessions 2 & 3 in February
Get ready to compete in April

The Build a Business Series continues with the second and third sessions at the EDGE. Session 2 is February 5th from 5:30pm-6:30pm, and Session 3 is February 19th from 5:30pm-6:30pm. These events are FREE and food and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP by clicking on the link.

Session Two
The second session will focus on evaluating the feasibility of the idea and learning via the Business Model Canvas.

Session Three
In our third session, participants will evaluate individual skills and the importance of forming a well-rounded team. The session also dived into planning milestones and working through cash flow.


Save the Date, April 14 from 8 am to 7 pm
2020 Edward K. Aldag, Jr. Business Plan Competition

 

Our fourth annual Edward K. Aldag, Jr. Business Plan Competition will be held on April 14th in the Bryant Conference Center. A total of $100,000 in prizes and business resources.

$50,000 Grand Prize*

$5,000 First Prize
$3,000 Second Prize
$2,000 Third Prize

Additional prizes will be offered for the best new idea, room prizes for earlier stage businesses, social entrepreneurship prize, best teamwork and more.

Also, competing allows participants to apply for the 2020 summer Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy, which is a summer program designed to help students start and grow businesses. Academy participants receive a summer stipend and are part of a unique learning experience designed to help them develop skills and get their businesses off the ground.

*The prizes mentioned are for The University of Alabama student-based competition. Details about the community competition are forthcoming.

Add to your calendar


Upcoming Events

To stay up to date on all upcoming AEI and EDGE events, be sure to follow us on social media and visit our calendar.

 

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in February.

https://conta.cc/36W0A8z

EDGE Newsletter – January 2020

This Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 pm at The EDGE

First Session in the Building a Business Workshop Series

This session is focused on your idea and you. Participants will be given FREE access to a software platform that will help with moving from an idea to a business plan and the system supports working with mentors too. Please bring your laptop so you can participate in these workshops. The second session will be held on Wednesday, February 5th from 5:30-6:30 pm and you can RSVP at this link.


Startup Drinks is Back January 30, 2020

The first Startup Drinks of the year will be held on Thursday, January 30th from 5:00 to 6:30 pm at Black Warrior Brewing Company.


Lessons from Serial Entrepreneur:

John Cassimus

Speaking at The EDGE February 12th, program from 5 to 6:30 pm RESCHEDULED from original 2/5/20 date

Serial entrepreneur and University of Alabama alumni John Cassimus will be speaking on Wednesday, February 12th at 5:30 p.m. Program starts at 5 pm with networking. Food and beverages provided.

Cassimus is best known for taking a single restaurant, Zoë’s Kitchen, started by his mother Zoë and father Marcus and founding the current company that operates over 260 fast-casual restaurants in the United States and was listed on the NYSE until a recent sale of the company. He will share with us his story, lessons learned and news about his latest venture called Crazy Cazboy’s.


2020 Edward K. Aldag Business Plan Competition

Our fourth annual Edward K. Aldag, Jr. Business Plan Competition will be held on April 14th in the Bryant Conference Center.

$50,000 Grand Prize*

$5,000 First Prize
$3,000 Second Prize
$2,000 Third Prize

 

Additional prizes will be offered for the best new idea, room prizes for earlier stage businesses, social entrepreneurship prize, best teamwork and more. Also, competing in the Aldag competition is a requirement to be eligible to participate in the summer Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy (CEA). CEA was first piloted in 2019 and it allows individuals and teams to work on their businesses full time during the summer at The EDGE. Selected Academy participants receive learning opportunities, networking connections, and a stipend to live and work in Tuscaloosa during the summer.

*The prizes mentioned are for The University of Alabama student-based competition. Details about the community competition are forthcoming.


Upcoming Events

To stay up to date on all upcoming AEI and EDGE events, be sure to follow us on social media and visit our calendar.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in January.

https://conta.cc/2Rgemyf

EDGE Newsletter – December 2019

2019 has been a Great Year

In December 2018 I received the keys to the new EDGE building, a 26,300 square foot new, high tech facility that promised to help us drive entrepreneurial actions at The University of Alabama and in our community. Since that day we have added 64 individuals as either office tenants or members; that number represents 41 different organizations. We’ve been fortunate to work with innovators and entrepreneurs who are building businesses and sharing with each other. We also have mentors, sponsors, business partners and two advisory boards (one for AEI and one for The EDGE) who have significantly helped us this year.

In addition to office tenants and co-working members, we also have had a lot of activity through events held at The EDGE. Since we opened our doors, we have hosted 209 events at The EDGE. Every day we are meeting new people and building buzz around all of our work.

We are very fortunate to have an active support group, and with this kind of help, we are sure to see even more successes in 2020. Please take time to read more about some of our highlights in 2019 below. And to all of you, we wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and look forward to connecting in 2020.

Sincerely,

Theresa M. Welbourne, PhD

Executive Director and
Will and Maggie Brooke Professor in Entrepreneurship


Biggest River Pitch Yet

On November 19, we hosted about 180 people who attended the 3rd annual River Pitch where competitors shared a 3-minute pitch of their business ideas. This year we had 9 booths (vs. 8 last year) and awarded 9 different people with $1,000 each. We were extremely impressed by all the great ideas and want to thank everyone who attended for making the event a success. Learn more about the competition here. A special congratulations to the winners:

Joanna Lemmon, Michael Fedewa, Dennis Miles, Leah Taylor, Jennifer Stasiak, Caroline Barnes, Tillman Ritchey, Adam Graff, and Riley Doyle.


Global Entrepreneurship Week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to River Pitch, we celebrated with an exhibit by EDGE companies and Academy teams as well as two learning workshops.

The first on corporate entrepreneurship was led by John Smola (top left), Director of New Business Growth Development, Innovation and New Ventures at Alabama Power and Will Wright (top right) the Vice President of Digital and Innovation at Protective Life Corporation.

The second workshop was all about angel investing in Alabama, and it was run by Anderson Hicklen, the Managing Partner of the AIM Group as well as Jim Corman, also a partner in AIM and serial entrepreneur. In addition, before and after this workshop the EDGE tenants, members, and some Academy teams participated in an exhibit, allowing them to network and meet with others to talk about their businesses (see pictures below; Anderson in the center bottom, Jim on left and exhibitors on right).

 

 

 

Anderson (above) teaching the group about the angel investment process and Jim (above to the left) sharing the history of angel investing in Alabama and the potential for future growth. Above to the right – exhibitors at The EDGE.

2019 Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy (pre-accelerator program)

In the summer of 2019, the Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute ran the first Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy. The 8-week program gave teams time to focus full time on their business ideas. The Academy program addressed three themes: (1) building personal confidence, (2) building businesses and (3) building networks. Curriculum plus individual coaching helped participants achieve their goals. Learn more about some of the graduating companies below. The program was made possible through the sponsorship of Medical Properties Trust and a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. Students spent the summer working full time on their business ideas, and to date, 50% of our participants either have a prototype of their product and/or financing to move their businesses forward.

Meet a Few of the 2019 Crimson Entrepreneurship Academy Graduating Companies:

Locality: an app for meeting people. Download their app and check out their WVUA segment.

Tankr: a new app for gas delivery. Check out their Facebook page and their WVUA segment.

Taylor’s Victory Garden Center: a discount gardening supply store located in West Alabama. Check out their website and WVUA segment.

Fit as a Fiddle: a company that offers online consultations and video tutorials of stretches and exercises specific to each instrument in the orchestral world.

Vestr: a music platform app that gives the user the ability to live stream what song they’re currently playing to other users.

Gravitate: an app for marketing, advertising and discovering what’s going on with Tuscaloosa nightlife.

Blackbriar Defense Technologies: a company looking to empower small businesses with working tools necessary to proactively defend themselves from evolving cyber threats. Check out their website.


Executive MBAs Innovate in New Entrepreneurship Course

This Fall the Executive MBA in Tuscaloosa added an entrepreneurship course co-taught by Dr. Theresa Welbourne and Professor Gina Simpson. Pictured on the left is one of the four teams. All four teams came up with a new idea and developed both a marketing web site and business plan for their products. Great to see the creativity and amazing outfits!

Congrats to all the teams; pictured here are members of the YellowHammer Flight Academy team. From left to right: Lonnie Golightly, Pamela Harris, Shane Gandy, and Robert Smith.


John Cassimus Speaking at The EDGE February 5th
5 pm – networking; program starts at 5:30

Serial entrepreneur and University of Alabama alumni John Cassimus will be at The EDGE on February 5th. Cassimus is best known for taking a single restaurant, Zoë’s Kitchen, started by his mother Zoë and father Marcus and founding the current company that operates over 260 fast-casual restaurants in the United States and was listed on the NYSE until a recent sale of the company. He will share with us his story, lessons learned and news about his latest venture called Crazy Cazboy’s.

Join us for a workshop featuring John Cassimus on Wednesday, February 5th. Attendance is free of charge; networking, food and drinks will be provided.

RSVP | Add to your calendar


Upcoming Events

To stay up to date on all upcoming AEI and EDGE events, be sure to follow us on social media and visit our calendar.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 

 


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in December.

https://conta.cc/2EGReBY

EDGE Newsletter – November 2019

2019 River Pitch Competition

Tuesday, November 19th from 5 – 9 PM at the Tuscaloosa River Market
Sign up deadline extended to November 14th

The 2019 River Pitch Business Idea Competition is an event for students and community members alike to come pitch their ideas in just 3 minutes. You can win one of eight $1,000 prizes, get valuable feedback on your idea and maybe meet someone who can help you improve your pitch and develop your idea into a business. The initial deadline was November 8th, but we are now extending sign-ups through Thursday, November 14th. If you have not yet signed up but plan on competing, please sign up as soon as possible.

Learn More

 

Sign Up

 


Past Winners: Where are they now?

Over the last two years, there have been sixteen $1,000 winners at our River Pitch Competition. Many have gone on to continue their entrepreneurial journey and create real businesses in Tuscaloosa.

2017 Winner – Valencia Winston, SkyPop Gourmet Popcorn

One of our 2017 winners, SkyPop Gourmet Popcorn has provided delicious popcorn to hungry Tuscaloosa residents. SkyPop is a regular vendor at the Tuscaloosa Farmer’s Market and a favorite snack of many in the area. Valencia was also recently featured on WVUA. Want to learn more? Check out their Facebook page here.

2018 Winner – JacQuan Winters, Kristen Amerson Youth Foundation

JacQuan was one of our winners at the 2018 River Pitch Competition with his idea, the Kristen Amerson Youth Foundation.

It is the purpose of the foundation to provide suicide prevention, success-coaching, educational outreach, and advocacy services to young men and women. The organization’s goal being to prevent suicide among youth. The foundation will also work to provide services to increase awareness of suicide and bullying among the younger generation. It is our hope that these services will empower youth by providing educational support to ensure a more balanced and healthy life for local at-risk youth.

You can learn more about the foundation and how you can get involved on their website.


Interested in all things entrepreneurship? The River Pitch Competition is one of our many events during Global Entrepreneurship Week, which runs November 18-24. Our events this year include pitch practice, startup drinks, and our first ever Entrepreneuring Day. All events are free of charge so we hope to see many of you throughout the week!

See all of our GEW events

 


Upcoming Events

To stay up to date on all upcoming AEI and EDGE events, be sure to follow us on social media and visit our calendar.

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in November.

https://conta.cc/34H2QQ9

EDGE Newsletter – October 2019

US Patent and Trademark Office visits The EDGE

US Patent & Trademark Pro Bono Resource Seminar
Wednesday, October 9th 2:00 – 4:00 PM
The EDGE – 2627 10th Avenue

On Wednesday, October 9th, in partnership with the ASBDC, we will be hosting a learning opportunity at The Edge with representatives from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They will give a short presentation with some helpful information about patents and trademarks and then will have time for questions afterward.

This informative seminar will cover resources offered by the USPTO Pro Bono program and local assistance available to both legal students and practitioners, and inventors and entrepreneurs.

From April 2015 to March 2019, nearly 2,000 individuals have been matched with volunteer registered patent practitioners through the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program. Inventors and innovators that come for assistance to Small Business Development Centers and Small Business Administration programs may be eligible for pro bono assistance in the preparation and filing of patent applications.

Registered patent practitioners are uniquely qualified to help financially under-resourced inventors and small businesses file patent applications. The local patent pro bono program in your region is available to match eligible inventors with the volunteer practitioners. Please see www.uspto.gov/probonopatents for more information. The local program screens applicants using criteria that include: (1) household income; (2) knowledge of the patent system; and (3) possession of an actual invention (not merely an idea).

Attendance is free but you must register using this link or the button below.

Register


Upcoming Events

There is a lot going on for entrepreneurship in the upcoming months! Save the date for the following events:
River Pitch Practice: Introduce your Idea – Monday, October 21st
Startup Drinks at Wheelhouse Pub – Thursday, October 24th
River Pitch Competition – Tuesday, November 19th

 


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in October.

https://conta.cc/30FsvpX

EDGE Newsletter – September 2019

Financing your Startup – Lessons Learned from a Panel of Experts with Regions Bank

On Thursday, September 12th, speakers from Regions Bank will be at The EDGE to talk about financing your startup. The panel will include Brad Hayes, Business Banker, and Cassandra Greer, Business Cash Management Banker and Thomas Stroud, Financial Wellness Relationship Manager.

Attendance is free and open to the public. Food and drinks will be provided. We hope to see many of you there!

Thursday, September 12th from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm at The EDGE


ASBDC Start Your Business Seminar

On Tuesday, September 3rd, the Alabama SBDC will be hosting their monthly start your business seminar at The EDGE.

You will leave this program with a completed draft of your business model canvas and an understanding of how to identify a problem in the market, the best-fit solution, your customers, revenue and costs.

Tuesday, September 3rd from 9:30 – 11:00 AM at The EDGE.


Join us for another EDGE Open Mic night September 19th

This September 19th, The EDGE will again host our monthly Open Mic Pitch event. It’s easy, and it’s fun. If you have a new idea or one that you’ve been working on for some time, grab a microphone and shout out your idea. You will get an applause, experience momentary fandom and also get some feedback to help you move your idea forward. Attendance is free and food and drinks will be provided.

Thursday, September 19th from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm at The EDGE


Startup Drinks

Join the growing startup community on Thursday, September 26th (location TBA). Startup drinks is a grassroots effort that has sprung up in cities around the world where people gather around a bar to have a drink, discuss what they are working on, what they need help with, and what they can do for each other. No presentations. No pitches. No sponsors or speakers, just drinks and startup talk. Existing or aspiring entrepreneurs of all types and ages are welcome.

Thursday, September 26th starting at 5 pm


Crimson Startup returns September 30th

NSF I-Corps Site at UA is offering a 6-week Crimson Startup program to facilitate the commercial evaluation of academic research and innovation. It is designed for inventors and entrepreneurs who want to take their research from concept/lab to the marketplace or become NSF I-Corps Teams applicants.

This is a great way to learn about customer discovery as well as qualify for potential funding for your business. For more information please contact Dr. Ying Qin (yqin@ua.edu) or visit https://icorps.ua.edu/

Monday mornings starting September 30th until November 4th, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm


Click the link below to learn more about what’s happening with the EDGE in September.

https://conta.cc/32krJQL

EDGE Newsletter – August 2019

Startup and Growth: the Camgian Story

Wednesday, August 7th from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm at the EDGE

Next week on Wednesday, August 7th, The EDGE will be hosting the CEO and Founder of Camgian, Gary Butler. Butler founded Camgian in 2006 with ” the vision of delivering a new generation of advanced sensing and information processing platforms .”

Since its founding they have been named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US; Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the most entrepreneurial companies in America; and The Silicon Review as one of the top 50 fastest growing technology companies.

Camgian is headquartered in Starkville, MS and has expanded their offices to Jackson, MS and here in Tuscaloosa, AL. They currently have four offices at the EDGE and have committed themselves to a high standard of excellence and have hired many UA graduates to work in their Tuscaloosa offices while expanding their business.

Join us at 5:00 pm at the EDGE to learn from Gary Butler about his journey as an entrepreneur. We hope to see you there!


UA Aligns Inventor Resources, Collaboration with Business Incubator

We are pleased to announce that the Bama Technology Incubator, which includes on-campus laboratories and additional support for start-up companies, will change its name to EDGE Labs and serve as the strategic counterpart to The EDGE, a 26,000 square-foot off-campus business incubator that opened in February as a collaboration between UA, the City of Tuscaloosa and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

EDGE Labs feature laboratories and equipment necessary for new businesses and provides technical infrastructure that helps UA faculty, researchers and students develop and test processes and prototypes that can be translated into products for the marketplace.

The University’s Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute, or AEI, which is a University program managed by the Culverhouse College of Business, will work to integrate the EDGE Labs into an overall suite of resources to support new and established business growth. The new arrangement will also allow for better synchronization of events and activities that grow and nurture entrepreneurs.

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