Global Entrepreneurship Week is returning to Fort Worth following a five-year hiatus. The event is meant to inspire, connect and engage the Fort Worth entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it ties into the city’s efforts to ensure community vitality and support small businesses as part of the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
GEW is part of a worldwide event that reaches 170 countries. In the United States alone, nearly 5,000 events are planned in support of entrepreneurs and small-business communities.
GEW Fort Worth events and activities
GEW Fort Worth will take place Nov. 8-16, and will be composed of 14 events scattered throughout the city. These diverse locations will highlight different parts of the community and showcase local hubs of entrepreneurship that residents may sometimes overlook.
“Fort Worth’s startup community is thriving, so we’re really excited to celebrate it during Global Entrepreneurship Week,” said Robert Sturns, economic development director for the City of Fort Worth. “Small-business owners and entrepreneurs of all ages, backgrounds and skillsets are all invited to come out, attend the events, network and connect with like-minded individuals across the city.”
A complete list of events and more information is available at the Global Entrepreneurship Week Fort Worth website.
www.gewfortworth.com/
“Our startup community is an indispensable engine of economic growth and we want to spend a week celebrating entrepreneurs and finding news to engage with them and help them along their own journeys. GEW will bring attention to the great work they are doing to bring new innovations to market and to create the jobs of the future,” said Cameron Cushman, the Director of Innovation Ecosystems at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth’s goal is to inspire, connect and engage with the local community of innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, educators and students to help expose them to all aspects of entrepreneurship and to catalyze greater cooperation and connectivity beyond the normal silos and patterns of engagement.
“One of the reasons we wanted to bring GEW back to Fort Worth was to connect our local startups with the rest of the world,” said Meghan Wright, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Management at Texas Wesleyan University and one of the co-leaders of the local GEW planning committee. “Research shows that if startup companies can think about tapping into international markets early in their existence, then they will grow faster, create more jobs and avoid failure.”
The GEW festivities kick off with an opening party at the new IREB building on the UNTHSC campus Thursday, November 8. GEW includes some events that regularly occur in Fort Worth, such as Startup Weekend, which will run Friday, November 9 – Sunday, November 11 at the UNT Health Science Center. 1 Million Cups, a weekly educational program for entrepreneurs, will celebrate its five-year anniversaryduring the week. Fort Worth’s second Startup Crawl will feature startups in several locations on the east side on Thursday, November 15.
The week also will include new events in Fort Worth, such as the first State of Entrepreneurship Tuesday, November 13 at the UNT Health Science Center.
“We hope that Fort Worth will use Global Entrepreneurship Week as a time to come together and support the local startup community.” Wright said. “Starting a company is perhaps the hardest thing that most people do in their lives and we need to come around them and cheer them on as they build their businesses and create jobs.”
Schedule updates and information for Global Entrepreneurship Week can be found at www.gewfortworth.com The following events will be part of the festivities:
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Opening Party: 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 2018; Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building Patio, UNT Health Science Center, 3430 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Dealmaker Network Maps: 11:30 a.m. Nov. 9, 2018; Reata Rooftop Dome, 310 Houston St.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Startup Weekend: Nov. 9, 2018,–Nov. 9, 2018; Carl E. Everett Education & Administration Building, UNT Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Youth Entrepreneurs Lone Star Pitch IT Competition: 10:30 a.m. Nov. 12, 2018; TCC Northeast Campus Building NCAB 1111, 828 West Harwood Road.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Learn Why Veterans Make Great Entrepreneurs: 4 p.m. Nov. 12, 2018; WeWork at Clearfork, 5049 Edwards Ranch Rd..
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Startup-Con: noon Nov. 13, 2018; Nedderman Hall at UT Arlington, 416 Yates St.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – TechNest: 4:30 p.m. Nov. 13, 2018; TechFW at the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, 1120 South Freeway.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Female Founders of Dallas Final Pitch Competition: 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13, 2018; Fort Startup (IDEA Works) at the Business Assistance Center, 1150 South Freeway.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – 1 Million Cups: 9 a.m. Nov. 14, 2018; Locavore, 715 Hawthorne Avenue.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – The Power of WE – Women Entrepreneurs: 6 p.m. Nov. 14, 2018; The Women’s Club of Fort Worth, 1316 Pennsylvania Ave.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Breakfast at the BAC – Winning at Business Planning: 7:30 a.m. Nov. 15, 2018; Fort Worth Business Assistance Center, 1150 South Freeway.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Future Industry Implications of ESports and Gaming: 11 a.m. Nov. 15, 2018; Texas Wesleyan University, 1201 Wesleyan St.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Be Your Own Boss Entrepreneurship Panel: 12:15 p.m. Nov. 15, 2018; TCC Northwest Campus, 4801 Marine Creek Parkway.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – EpICMavs: 4:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 2018; UTA Startup Lounge, Campus Center, 505 West Nedderman Drive.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Startup Crawl FW: 4:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 2018; Jack Morton Business Accelerator at Texas Wesleyan University School of Business, 3114 E. Rosedale Street.
Global Entrepreneurship Week – Heart of North Texas 2018: 7:30 a.m. Nov. 16, 2018; Hurst Conference Center, 1601 Campus Drive.
The event is presented by IBM.