The Village Square: Building the Civic 'Net grantee: The City of Rochester Hills Entrepreneur's Network

The Village Square blog and the Village of Rochester Hills are proud sponsors of the "Building the Civic 'Net" philanthropic initiative [Learn more about Building the Civic 'Net by clicking the link]. Below we've included a profile of one of our four current grantees:

In recognition of the need to be more responsive to the local business community, the City of Rochester Hills Planning and Development Department initiated an economic development strategy in 2007. After involving Rochester Hills’ corporate constituents in the planning and implementation process for that strategy, an objective was identified to implement a program that will make Rochester Hills a more entrepreneur-friendly community. Specifically, this initiative entailed developing a small business and entrepreneurial support program to assist prospective and existing small businesses in development and growth. As such, the Mayor’s Business Council, a local corporate advisory body, developed a program through the establishment of an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Committee (EIC). The EIC is comprised of regional business stakeholders from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Oakland County, Oakland University, Oakland Community College and the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce, in addition to various local businesses and financial institutions.

In an effort to respond to the need for changing the way entrepreneurs are engaged, and ultimately serviced, the City of Rochester Hills, in conjunction with Oakland University’s Students in Free Enterprise and the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals of Rochester, has established a local-based entrepreneurs e-network. The City believes that the partnerships established with these agencies will not only allow for broader reach into the entrepreneurship community, but will also allow for the opportunity to engage under-served populations. The e-network will be targeted towards existing and prospective companies within Rochester Hills. In addition, the network will be open to high school and college-age youth interested in pursuing entrepreneurship as a career option.

Join the entrepreneur e-network's LinkedIn group.