It’s time for everyone to get to know the people behind the scenes of Innovate ND and the best entrepreneurial resources that North Dakota offers – the amazing Innovate ND partners.
This week, get to know the IDEA Center folks and learn about what type of assistance they can offer to Innovate ND participants. Here is a message from the IDEA Center’s Ellyn Rost, Julie Kuennen and Jill Castleberry:
The IDEA Center is an Incubator for Developing Entrepreneurial Activity, which serves as a supportive community to nurture ideas into reality and generate results. The IDEA Center is established on a multi-pronged development approach focused on the community, students and entrepreneurs. The Center was founded in 2007 to provide service to two underserved areas identified by the community; a development lab for students and entrepreneurial support efforts. We are currently located at 2720 E Broadway in Bismarck and we eagerly await the opening of the new satellite location in Jamestown.
Entrepreneurs and students from all stages in life work closely with IDEA Center staff and experienced business professionals from the community known as the IDEA Center’s Board of Mentors, to further build their skills and advance their path to commercialization. The exchange of ideas between the experienced and non-experienced instills a non-stigmatizing way of thinking for our community.
It is through various development mechanisms that the IDEA Center assists the entrepreneurs in helping to bring products and services to market. The shared service model within the Center has been designed to assist entrepreneurs by strengthening areas of weakness. Shared services offered include but are limited to: planning in marketing, operations and financials, bookkeeping, budgeting, fiscal reviews, office facility, shared space and facilitation. If the entrepreneur poses a particular challenge, the staff at the Center pulls together resources to develop a plan of attack. The Innovate ND process has proven successful for many entrepreneurs that the IDEA Center works with. This process not only assists in developing a solid plan for moving the venture forward, but is also an accountability measure, ensuring the entrepreneur meets deadlines.
For more information or if you are interested in getting involved with the IDEA Center, please contact us at 701.250.2198!
