Susan Freeman shakes hands with facilitators Thursday after receiving her certificate during a graduation of adult entrepreneurs from LAUNCH Chattanooga’s business launching program at Stratton Hall in Chattanooga. The graduates learned over several weeks how to turn their business ideas into viable and sustainable ventures.IF YOU GOWhat: Marketplace Revolution, a national conference to discuss how business can be used to alleviate poverty in cities across the U.S.Where: Stratton Hall, 3146 Broad StreetWhen: Today, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.Cost: $99
Business can transform communities.
That’s what leaders from local and national business incubators emphasized Thursday as about 30 Chattanoogans graduated from a 10-week business course offered by Launch, a local incubator that aims to connect underserved people to the resources they need to start businesses in the Scenic City.
“The connection between the absence of work and the disintegration of our communities is a direct connection,” said Joel Hamernick, the keynote speaker from Sunshine Enterprises, an incubator in Chicago. “Entrepreneurs in our community do work that leads to self-sustaining and long-term effects.”
Hamernick is in town for both the graduation and a national conference sponsored by Partners Worldwide, an international group that focuses on using business to alleviate poverty. About 70 people from 10 cities across the U.S. are meeting today to figure out how to encourage small business and entrepreneurship in their hometowns.