Silicon Beach Fest Summer 2013 takes place June 19-22 and will showcase the most promising startups and visionaries from across Los Angeles’ dynamic ecosystem

Silicon Beach Fest, happening June 19-22, 2013 in Santa Monica, brings together technology leaders, startup CEOs, investors, Hollywood studio executives, entrepreneurs, developers, students and more to celebrate and explore LA’s burgeoning tech scene.

The third Silicon Beach Fest includes panels and workshops with LA’s top startup CEOs and investors, hackathon, luncheons, networking mixers, and a Startup Showcase spotlighting 40 local startups. The fest features 15 tracks covering categories of interest to LA’s business leaders.

Track topics include: Investor, Entrepreneur, Hollywood, Games, Digital Content, Advertising, Social Media, International, Developer, Design, Arts and Education, and Green, among others. Speakers include LA’s accelerators, venture capitalists, startup CEOs, and entertainment executives from companies such as Warner Bros., Disney, Fox, and more.

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Clemson MBAe students compete for $40,000 in funding at EnterPrize Awards Roadshow presented by CertusBank

Clemson University kicked off the inaugural EnterPrize Awards presented by CertusBank, a three-city, three-week roadshow and competition that showcases MBAe student ventures.

The roadshow provides graduating students enrolled in the specialty MBA program, which has created an innovation pipeline for entrepreneurs, a public platform to pitch concepts in return for up to $40,000 in seed funding.

Students competing in the Clemson EnterPrize Awards will present to a five member panel of judges in Charleston, Atlanta and Greenville on May 16, 23 and 30. Prize funding will be awarded based on the quality of presentation, viability and practicality of the idea as well as the concept’s opportunity for monetary and societal impact.

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Trade Americas Expo, Essential Forum to Connect Global Entrepreneurs with Investment Opportunities in the Americas, Confirms Panelists for June Event

Latin Trade Group, the leading provider of information and business services to companies operating in Latin America, announces the participation of leaders of top multinational companies as panelists at the second annual Trade Americas Expo: Creating an Environment for Business Opportunities in the Hemisphere.

Hosted in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami June 20-21, Trade Americas Expo is the premier conference for executives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to expand across the Americas.

Confirmed panelists include:
- Ferdinand Kurt , CEO for the Americas Region at Panalpina
- Oscar Rojas , President for the Latin American Region at Brightstar Corp.
- Craig S. Smith , President for the Caribbean and Latin America at Marriott International
- Jaime Szulc , President for the Latin America Region of Goodyear

“By bringing on international investors who have forged successful partnerships in Latin America and showcasing their personal accomplishments, we are able to offer attendees a thorough understanding of how to grow their businesses in the region,” said Rosemary Winters , CEO of Latin Trade Group.

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Minneapolis-St. Paul recognized as One of the Hot Spots for Medical Instrument Companies

The SBA Office of Advocacy study, The Geography of Employment Growth: The Support Networks for Gazelle IPOs, identifies specific states with the strongest support networks for companies to launch Initial Public Offerings (IPO). To create a fast growing company or gazelle, it takes an Entrepreneurial Support Network (ESN) including skilled labor, capital, customers, and suppliers. According to this study, ESNs with the necessary strength to launch an IPO are predominantly found in California, Massachusetts, Florida, New York, and Texas. However, one city stood out as an entrepreneurial hotspot despite the absence of an entrepreneurial support network. Minneapolis-St. Paul is home to numerous medical instrument companies and claims 10 percent of the IPOs for this industrial sector.

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Jay Baer, Guy Kawasaki, Amy Jo Martin, and many other leaders featured in Cox BLUE series on 2013 social media trends

Cox BLUE, a social destination designed to help small businesses grow with digital marketing strategies powered by Cox Business announced the 2013 video series, “Focus on Digital – The Influencer Series” featuring some of the most influential experts in social media and digital marketing today. Captured live from leading industry events including South by Southwest (SXSW) and New Media Expo earlier this year by Martin Jones (@martinjonesaz) of Cox Business, these videos are available now on the Cox Business YouTube channel.

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Student team from India addresses the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction
- Finalist projects range from new cancer diagnostic tool and nonprofit fundraising platform to solar power crowdsourcing and recycled shoes
- Entrepreneurial students and their innovative ventures celebrated at finals event

Dell announced that Solar Conduction Dryer received the $60,000 grand prize in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge (DSIC) to help fuel their innovation. Solar Conduction Dryer and young social innovators from four other finalist teams convened in Austin this week to compete for the cash prize as part of the DSIC, which recognizes undergraduate and graduate students from around the world who envision, create and implement social innovation projects that help communities around the world.

Solar Conduction Dryer aims to address the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural Indian farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction. The innovation will enable farmers to keep more of their crops and sell dehydrated fruits and vegetables as another income source.

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Global Entrepreneurs Win $1 Million Along with Free Support Services

Arch Grants, the global business startup competition that provides $50,000 non-dilutive grants to early stage ventures, announces the 2013 Global Startup Competition winners. Arch Grants created the competition to help grow businesses and create a more robust entrepreneurial culture and infrastructure in St. Louis.

“The Arch Grants winners are the best of a terrific group, and are exciting young companies,” said Jerry Schlichter, Co-Founder and President of Arch Grants. “Arch Grants’ vision has become a reality. We are building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and have great partners who through their support of Arch Grants, have put St. Louis on the international map as a great place for entrepreneurs.”

This year’s competition attracted 707 applicants from 15 countries and 40 states. The 20 grant recipients will receive $50,000 each in funding and free support services. Starting in July, the out-of-town companies will relocate to St. Louis and begin immersing themselves into the entrepreneurial community.

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U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
At Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
May 18, 2013

Let me start by congratulating the graduates and their parents. The word “graduate” comes from the Latin word for “step.” Graduation from college is only one step on a journey, but it is an important one and well worth celebrating.

I think everyone here appreciates what a special privilege each of you has enjoyed in attending a unique institution like Simon’s Rock. It is, to my knowledge, the only “early college” in the United States; many of you came here after the 10th or 11th grade in search of a different educational experience. And with only about 400 students on campus, I am sure each of you has felt yourself to be part of a close-knit community. Most important, though, you have completed a curriculum that emphasizes creativity and independent critical thinking, habits of mind that I am sure will stay with you.

What’s so important about creativity and critical thinking? There are many answers. I am an economist, so I will answer by talking first about our economic future–or your economic future, I should say, because each of you will have many years, I hope, to contribute to and benefit from an increasingly sophisticated, complex, and globalized economy. My emphasis today will be on prospects for the long run. In particular, I will be looking beyond the very real challenges of economic recovery that we face today–challenges that I have every confidence we will overcome–to speak, for a change, about economic growth as measured in decades, not months or quarters.

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Scholars to Attend Aspen Ideas Festival and Create Local Ideas Festivals

The Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute announced the selection of the 2013 Bezos Scholars. This leadership development program brings together 12 of the nation’s top public high school juniors and 12 exceptional educators for an all-expenses-paid week of exploration, dialogue and debate at the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 25 – July 1. And for the third consecutive year, in the spirit of global citizenship and collective action, the Bezos Scholars Program will include five outstanding students and an educator from the African Leadership Academy in South Africa.

In Aspen, Bezos Scholars will connect with visionaries from around the globe—international leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs and creative artists across diverse disciplines—and engage in lectures, presentations, debates and discussions around critical issues. Surrounded by the stunning Rocky Mountains of Colorado, past Scholars shared meals and intimate roundtable discussions with Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams , retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Admiral Mike Mullen , musician Moby and New York Times columnist David Brooks , among many others.

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