Press Coverage
SALEM — The North Shore's first "creative bump" was held last night at Finz restaurant, a get-together for some of the more than 200 businesses that make up the city's creative economy.
The event was held to focus attention on and try to expand the "creative economy" — a business sector that includes artists, musicians, writers, engineers, graphic designers, architects, consultants, museum curators and others who generate jobs, products and services through creativity. Ready more...
It's worth nothing that the movement that led to the recent appointment of the first-in-the-nation state "creative economy" director in Massachusetts began right here on the North Shore.
Jason Schupbach, 32, was named to the post by Gov. Deval Patrick earlier this month and will be charged with spreading the message that there's real economic opportunity in the thousands of businesses, many of them one-person shops, that rely mostly on brainpower and imagination to produce valuable goods and services.
It's a good move by the administration, which will use existing business development funds to pay Schupach's $70,000-a-year salary.
Among the first to realize the potential of these enterprises, and devise strategies for encouraging them, were Patricia Zaido, executive director of The Salem Partnership, and Christine Sullivan who runs the Enterprise Center at Salem State College. They're still spreading the gospel, most recently at a meeting of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce this week during which Sullivan noted that these businesses, which range from software designs firms to architectural concerns, account for a significant share of the North Shore's economic activity. More important, she noted, they're growing and their market is a global one.
Sullivan says a priority going forward is the development of a "bump strategy" that will get these entrepreneurs networking — or bumping into each other — on a regular basis. It's how the area around San Jose, Calif., became the center of computer development known as Silicon Valley several decades ago.
With any luck this region and this state can bump itself right out of a recession.
Globe North Business notes:Report on area's 'creative economy' due
Boston Globe: April 13, 2008
A report on the region's "creative economy" is due to be released on Tuesday by the North Shore Creative Economy Association. The Salem Partnership and The Enterprise Center at Salem State College also commissioned the study, which was paid for with a state grant. Click Here to read the full story.
Enterprise Center Offers Training for Small Businesses
Published: April 07, 2008 01:20 pm
SALEM — "Small businesses are a great strength of the region," said Christine Sullivan, director of Salem State College's Enterprise Center. According to Sullivan, 88 percent of companies in Essex County have four or fewer employees, and the owners of those companies need help....Click Here to read the full story.
Getting Down to Business: Past Competition Winners Talk about Successes, Setbacks
Published: March 18, 2008
By Benjamin Amirault
The Enterprise Center at Salem State College has expanded its annual Business Plan Competition to include the Merrimack Valley — and doubled the prize money to $10,000.
In its fourth year, the contest invites aspiring entrepreneurs to submit their business plan to a panel of judges, consisting of venture capitalists, local bankers, business owners and Salem State administrators. The competition is much like the TV show "American Inventor" — without George Foreman...Click here to read full story
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