詹妮弗·k·森田著

2023年11月21日

The Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at 萨克拉门托 State led the region’s Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) activities for the fifth consecutive year and took home a $250,000 state grant, cementing its place as a driving force for economic growth.

加州小企业倡导办公室（CalOSBA）的北卡罗来纳地区顾问克莱尔·惠特默（claire Whitmer）于11月13日，也就是全球创业周的第一天，在卡尔森中心萨克拉门托创业国家联盟期间宣布了这笔拨款。

CalOSBA奖项“加速加州：包容性创新中心”授予那些提供创业培训、指导和指导，以及获得资本和小企业资源的组织。

卡尔森中心是获得第二轮资助的五个组织之一，其他五个组织包括查普曼大学、Humanmade、iHub San Joaquin和Plug in South Los Angeles。

惠特默也是负责区域经济合作的助理副主任，她对听众说，加州有420万家小企业。

“They drive our economy … they are our community leaders,” Whitmer said. “Of those 4.2 million, 98% have 20 or fewer jobs, so we have to create them en masse, as well as create the environment for the high-flyer companies, because that is what makes us California and what brings talent and money into our economy.”

全球创业周始于2008年。 今天，200多个国家的组织举办了40,000场活动，估计有1000万人参加。

“The work being done here (at the Carlsen Center) to grow an entrepreneurial culture by partnering with regional leaders and organizations and transforming the lives of students along the way is both impressive and essential to the future. We are the one and only public university in the state capital of the fifth-largest economy in the world, and we’re acting like it.” ——博彩平台校长卢克·伍德

The Carlsen Center has served as the hub for the region’s GEW activities since Cameron Law became executive director five years ago.

他于2019年发起了第一个萨克拉门托创业州联盟。

萨克州立大学校友卢克·伍德（Luke Wood）校长在活动上发表了讲话，称萨克州立大学是嵌入社区的锚定机构。

“Look around the room and you will see entrepreneurs, regional leaders, and other passionate individuals who bring their commitment to growing the greater 萨克拉门托 region and providing 囊状态 students with skills, opportunity, and mentorship that they need to help our region become brighter,” Wood said in his address.

“The work being done here (at the Carlsen Center) to grow an entrepreneurial culture by partnering with regional leaders and organizations and transforming the lives of students along the way is both impressive and essential to the future. We are the one and only public university in the state capital of the fifth-largest economy in the world, and we’re acting like it.”

This year, the 卡尔森中心在整个地区组织了27场活动.

Several area investors, advisors, and experts offered 15-minute advice sessions to early-stage entrepreneurs and startups during Mentor Sprint, a “speed-dating” event for business founders and mentors.

“萨克拉门托 needs to increase visibility for entrepreneurs and investors, and I think the Carlsen Center is one of the places doing that,” said Gabriel Garcia, a 萨克拉门托 corporate attorney who served as a mentor. “Otherwise, we remain in the shadow of Silicon Valley. That’s why I like being part of the change and the investors landscape in 萨克拉门托.”

萨克拉门托地区的四位崭露头角的企业家在星火创业大赛中赢得了2万美元的奖金。 50名申请者被淘汰出10名决赛选手，他们在11月15日介绍了自己的企业。

aginerds, 公司。的创始人莫里斯•皮特斯基（Maurice Pitesky）在盈利性项目中获得第一名，real - real Estate的希瑟•兰科（Heather Rankow）和阿什利•凯斯（Ashley Keyes）获得亚军。

在“社会影响”类别中，玛丽亚·梅德拉诺（Maria Medrano）以《Insprame》获得第一名，施维塔·甘地（Shweta Gandhi）以《strive .io》获得第二名。

The Carlsen Center’s work has helped bring much-needed attention to the role entrepreneurs play in driving economic growth.

“The prominence of entrepreneurship has grown, and I think the fact that is being added to regional strategies is huge progress,” Law said. “It’s now one of the key pillars leaders are going to be looking at for growing our region.”

他补充说，过去的重点是吸引大公司，因为它们带来了大量高薪工作。 But those companies don’t always stay.

“It’s been proven that new business creation is the best way to create jobs. … Entrepreneurs have that connection to place, so they’re more likely to stay in the community that they start and grow in,” Law said.