TMCnet News
Inventors, entrepreneurs to rendezvous Thursday at UW-L(La Crosse Tribune (Wisconsin)(KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 23--La Crosse inventor and patent agent Bob Harter is looking forward to Thursday's "Catch the Culture: A 7 Rivers Regional Inventors & Entrepreneurs Rendezvous" from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Cleary Alumni & Friends Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "I'm a firm believer in inventors and entrepreneurs clubs," said Harter, who has belonged to the Juneau County club for a few years and also has attended meetings of the newer La Crosse and Tomah clubs. He wants to hear the event's speakers and see what other inventors and entrepreneurs have to offer. Coordinators of several area inventors and entrepreneurs clubs will host the event, with the help of the 7 Rivers Alliance, UW-L Small Business Development Center, Organic Valley Family of Farms and the International Trade, Business, and Economic Development Council. The rendezvous is free, open to the public and will provide a regional forum for new and existing business owners to share ideas, connect with like-minded people, meet resource providers and learn business skills from successful business owners from the region and state. Those who attend won't need parking permits for the Cleary Center's parking lot. The program will begin at 4:30 p.m. with talks by entrepreneurs Stuart Anders of Allied Industries LLC in Sun Prairie, Wis., and Ivan Davis of Jefferson, Wis. Service providers and some entrepreneurs will have about a dozen exhibits, and light refreshments will be served, said Jan Gallagher, director of the UW-L Small Business Development Center. Anyone who hasn't signed up to exhibit can do so by calling the center at (608) 785-8783 by Tuesday. People who attend the rendezvous will have an opportunity to introduce themselves and say what their needs are. "It's intended to be a little less structured and more along the line of a rendezvous" than the two "Bootstrap: 7 Rivers Region Innovation Fairs" held in 2005 and 2006, Gallagher said. The fairs' purpose was to provide a way for financial specialists, marketing professionals, manufacturers and service providers to meet inventors in various stages of taking their products to market. "We named this a rendezvous because of the spirit of the old rendezvous," Gallagher said. "Where people who don't often see each other get together and make things happen. "It's a social event and time for swapping information and resources," Gallagher added. Harter said Anders, one of the speakers, recently gave him advice on how to find a manufacturer and how to approach retailers with the Klingon wrench he has invented. "It looks like a regular Crescent-style adjustable wrench, but it won't slip off and round the corners of a hex head bolt or nut," Harter said of his invention. Gallagher and Terry Whipple of the Juneau County Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club put Harter in touch with Anders. Harter said the club also referred him to the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center of Whitewater, Wis., which evaluated the self-programmable home thermostat he has invented. The club also referred Harter to an inventors contest held last fall in Kansas City. Harter won the contest with his Portable Hose invention -- which he describes as a garden nozzle connected to a super heavy-duty water balloon. "I love inventing," Harter said. "And I want to start selling things I've invented." He may manufacture the Portable Hose himself, or hire another firm to make it. Harter, a former Trane patent agent, prepares and handles patent applications for inventors and companies such as Trane. His Web site is www.bobharter.com. Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or [email protected]. I&E RENDEZVOUS WHAT: "Catch the Culture: A 7 Rivers Regional Inventors & Entrepreneurs Rendezvous," providing a regional forum for new and existing business owners to share ideas and connect with like-minded people. WHEN: 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday. A program with speakers begins at 4:30 p.m. WHERE: The Cleary Alumni & Friends Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. ADMISSION: The event is free and open to the public. To register, contact a local inventors and entrepreneurs club or call the UW-L Small Business Development Center at (608) 785-8783. MORE INFO: For more information, including a list of clubs, visit www.7riversregion.com. I&E RENDEZVOUS WHAT: "Catch the Culture: A 7 Rivers Regional Inventors & Entrepreneurs Rendezvous," providing a regional forum for new and existing business owners to share ideas and connect with like-minded people. WHEN: 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday. A program with speakers begins at 4:30 p.m. WHERE: The Cleary Alumni & Friends Center at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse. ADMISSION: The event is free and open to the public. To register, contact a local inventors and entrepreneurs club or call the UW-L Small Business Development Center at (608) 785-8783. INFORMATION: For more information, including a list of clubs, visit www.7rivers region.com. To see more of the La Crosse Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lacrossetribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |