Entrepreneur Cafe

The Shenandoah Valley will play host to a new, innovative form of business funding when it holds the first regional Entrepreneur Café on April 19, 2016 at The Corron Center at Lord Fairfax Community College at 6pm.

The Entrepreneur Café provides a forum where small businesses can gain exposure while addressing funding needs. Entrepreneurs seeking financial support present their project through a 5-minute presentation with 5 minutes for questions/answers from the audience & local judges regarding their goals, experience and business plan; when all the presentations are complete, a panel of judges will determine which project receives a cash prize of up to $5000 and a marketing package valued at over $3500. 

Members of the community are invited to participate for a $10 admission fee. This fee is their “investment” in their business community. A second cash award will be presented to the audience favorite based on their votes. The Entrepreneur Café is very similar to the popular television show Shark Tank.

The Entrepreneur Cafe idea is based on a successful model from Front Royal. The original steering committee for this project consisted of representatives from Lord Fairfax Small Business Development Center – Jim Kraft, Dale Maza & Andy Gyurisin; Marla Jones with the Warren County Economic Development Authority; Leslie Currle with People, Inc. and Janet Michael with Java Media. The committee has since expanded to include representatives from local chambers of commerce, tourism departments & economic development agents from across the Shenandoah Valley. 

For more information, access to the application and a description of the education modules, please visit www.EntreCafe.org or send an email to info@entrecafe.org.