RENO, Nev. (February 24, 2015) – The Global Innovation Summit (GIS), held in Silicon Valley (February 17th-19th, 2015), gathered over 550 “new economy builders” from over 50 countries who met to discuss building innovation ecosystems; how to catalyze innovation across companies, cities, and countries sustainably; and how to accelerate entrepreneurship, technology, and impact at scale. The Global Innovation Summit recognizes the world’s leading companies, organizations, and communities that exemplify the broadest spirit of innovation, by transforming the systems around them. EDAWN was selected as one of this year’s ecosystem award winners for the combined success of attraction, retention, and entrepreneurial development efforts which are helping transform Northern Nevada’s economy.
Within the last 8 months, EDAWN’s entrepreneurial program has assisted more than 165 startups and entrepreneurial endeavors in the Reno area, resulting in 70 new startup jobs, $2.33M in venture funding and several entrepreneurs relocating to the region.
“While the metrics are an indicator that there’s exceptional growth occurring in the entrepreneurial community, it’s really a result of the changing culture within our regional ecosystem,” said Mike Kazmierski, CEO of EDAWN. “Vital to the growth of any innovation ecosystem is a collaboration and density of entrepreneurial resources. We are privileged to have a collection of partners and entrepreneurial support groups that enable our startups to grow their ideas into companies in a fertile environment,” he said.
The region’s collection of entrepreneurial support resources are highlighted in the Reno Startup Deck, a new community outreach initiative launched by EDAWN. The Startup Deck is a playing card deck with a total of 54 cards showcasing community connectors, programs, events, and places enabling anyone new to the region, or unfamiliar with the startup community, to quickly get engaged and participate. The rules of the deck mirror those of other successful entrepreneurial ecosystems: #1: Break rules and dream, #2: Open doors and listen, #3: Trust and be trusted, #4: Collaborate, #5: Seek fairness, not advantage, #6: Err, fail, and persist, #7: Pay it forward. These rules can be found in the Startup Deck, which was showcased and distributed to all of the participants at the Global Innovation Summit. To obtain a Reno Startup Deck, please contact Shyla Pheasant at EDAWN.
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About EDAWN:
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada is a private/ public partnership established in 1983 committed to recruiting, expanding and supporting newly forming quality companies that bring jobs to the region and have a positive impact on the quality of life in Greater Reno-Sparks-Tahoe.
Contact:
Shyla Pheasant
EDAWN Entrepreneurial Coordinator
775-636-2837, pheasant@edawn.org