NCET garners recognition for evolving programs and events
Posted Monday, July 7th, 2008Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology started out as an’ offshoot of the state’s economic development agencies.
But as the role of small business changes in the state, the organization has branched out and become a force in its own right.
“Eighty-five percent of Nevada businesses have 19 or fewer employees,” said Dave Archer, chief executive of the center. “Nevada, outside the resort corridors, is really a state of small business. 
“And much of Nevada’s growth is going to come from the small-business sector. What we try to do is foster those future enterprises.”
But as the state’s economy changes, so too does the strategy to boost the small-business sector.
Last year, the center was re-launched as an independent nonprofit organization. Its mission remains the same: Encourage people to start small businesses and to connect them with the resources they need to succeed.
But how it does that is evolving.
No longer content to simply pass out fliers and put links to small-business aid groups on its Web site, the center now hosts several prominent small-business economic development forums.
The center and its events are funded by a combination of federal earmarks, corporate event sponsorships and event revenue.
The most prominent event the center organizes is the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, a statewide business plan competition for higher education students. The competition invites teams from a broad range of educational backgrounds to create a viable business plan. 
It takes them out of the world of academia to take a serious look at how a business is run. Postgraduate surveys have found that participants have better leadership abilities, understand their industries better and work better in teams.
Although most of the students work for someone else after college, the program is meant to show them that entrepreneurship is a viable alternative.
“The result is they get academic guidance and real-world feedback on how to start a business,” Archer said.
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology also hosts two large expos, one in Las Vegas and one in Reno, that provide one-stop shopping for entrepreneurs and potential small business owners looking for counseling, training and information.
The organization even charters buses, taking representatives of small-business organizations from the rural counties to introduce them to the people at those expos.
“In Nevada there are so many great resources for people who want to start a small business, but most people don’t know about them,” Archer said. “So we promote their work and connect people to them.”
The center in recent years has played a larger role in helping entrepreneurs get money to launch a business.
Its annual venture capital conferences bring together high tech start ups with investors looking for good business bets in Nevada.
The center also helped create the Reno Angels investment group and has a close relationship with the Vegas Valley Angels, whose members help organize the annual venture capital conference in Southern Nevada.
The group is working to connect entrepreneurs with each other.
The center has organized networking opportunities for tech businesses in Reno for a few years, but younger techies weren’t keen to participate and eventually formed their own group.
In Southern Nevada, the center is launching networking luncheons, but is planning to market them differently so that entrepreneurs of all ages feel comfortable attending.
“All our research shows that young professionals want a chance to network with Baby Boomers -more experienced professionals who’ve been in the trenches for years,” Archer said. “So we’re trying to give them a place to do that.”
For more information on the center, log on to www.ncet.org.
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reduced full-conference rate of $330. After July 11, the full registration fee will be $390.
