News Briefs

13 years ago

MCED kicks off Eweek with Silicon Valley celebrity at statewide event 

The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development (MCED) will be hosting Steve Blank, a renowned entrepreneurship educator in Silicon Valley, who will speak via video conference on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. to Maine libraries and University campuses throughout the state as part of Maine Entrepreneurship Week and MCED’s Top Gun Maine program. The event, presented by MCED and supported by Blackstone Accelerates Growth, is free and open to the public. During the program, local entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to listen, ask questions and discuss his presentation alongside Top Gun Maine program participants. Participating libraries include: Cary Library, Houlton; Thompson Free Library, Dover-Foxcroft; and the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Library Conference Room.

Blank spent 21 years in eight high technology companies. Since 1999, he has written about and taught entrepreneurship at Stanford, Berkeley and Columbia universities respectively. He developed a new model for startups and worked with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps., as well as engagements in Chile, Finland and Russia. Blank has been featured in the New York Times, Nature magazine, and on National Public Radio. His book “Four Steps to the Epiphany” has been translated into Russian, Japanese and French.

Maine Entrepreneurship Week, part of National Entrepreneurship Week, is Feb. 11-18. Now in its fifth year, EWeek Maine has events scheduled throughout the state including panel discussions, workshops and networking events. For a complete list, please visit:  www.eweekmaine.org/.

MCED’s Top Gun Maine teaches emerging entrepreneurs what they really need to know to manage and grow a successful growth-oriented business. The formal program runs for five months but the mentoring relationships can extend well beyond the confines of the program. For additional information about MCED, visit:  www.topgunmaine.biz.

UMPI hosts management courses for the spring semester

    PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle will be offering two courses this spring starting on Monday, Feb. 27, as part of its American Management Association’s certificate programs. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, Feb. 22.

These spring courses, part of a multi-course curriculum leading to certificates in management and human resources management, are specifically created to meet the unique needs of working professionals who want to be more effective in their current positions and better prepared for future advancement, according to Keith Madore, campus AMA coordinator.

By meeting in a classroom setting with other managers from many different organizations, students are able to see how other companies handle problems similar to their own. Instructors with extensive business experience and excellent teaching skills facilitate the courses.

The course, “Fair, Square and Legal,” is scheduled for Mondays from Feb. 27 through March 26, from 6-9 p.m. in the Campus Center, Room 118. In this course, students will learn key aspects of employment law and clear, step-by-step methods of documentation, compliance and prevention for every business-related action that can raise legal liability. Clare Exner, chair of UMPI’s College Professional Programs, will lead the course.

“Taking Control with Time Management” is scheduled for Wednesdays from March 7 through April 11 from 6-8:30 p.m. and meets in the Campus Center, Alumni Room. In this course, focused on how to balance the demands of work and personal life, students will learn how to use effective systems for setting and achieving goals and reducing on-the-job stress. The instructor is Dawn Poitras, manager of rehab and therapy services at The Aroostook Medical Center.

To earn an AMA certificate, each student is required to complete six courses for management or five for human resources management. Courses may be taken in any order and there is no time limit for completion of the program. Courses also can be offered on-site, Madore said.

For more information or to register, contact Madore at 768-9568 or keith.madore@umpi.edu.