TROY – Mark Clevey, the author of the Annual Michigan Entrepreneurship Scorecard, has a new job ? he is the program manager for the Blackstone LaunchPad, a free career choice program operated from college placement offices that serves both beginning and experienced entrepreneurs, assisting with opportunity recognition, feasibility assessment and strategy for starting and growing companies or non-profits.
The announcement was made by Automation Alley, which received a grant from the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan to partner with Wayne State University and Walsh College to bring the program to Southeast Michigan.
The program originated at the University of Miami in 2008. In the program’s first two years, Miami’s LaunchPad attracted more than 1,000 students and alumni, who received support that assisted in the creation of 45 new businesses and more than 100 new jobs.
The Blackstone LaunchPad programs at Wayne State University and Walsh College are co-curricular and voluntary by design. Pragmatic, concrete and experiential, they provide the just-in-time knowledge entrepreneurs need to assess and develop their ideas and plans for a new enterprise.
The Blackstone LaunchPad offers guidance, encouragement and, through Automation Alley, immediate access to a regional commercial network, bring entrepreneurs into the local business community as early as possible. Finally, the Blackstone LaunchPad fulfills a key education obligation: to teach learners not just how to find a job but also how to make a job. Automation Alley is working alongside both educational institutions to successfully implement the Blackstone LaunchPad program to their students. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation provided a $2 million grant to bring the LaunchPad to the campuses of Wayne State University and Walsh College.
“The LaunchPad program will be a tremendous asset for Southeast Michigan, its students and entrepreneurs,” said Automation Alley Executive Director Ken Rogers. “We’re pleased to be involved in such a successful initiative focuses on the region’s remarkable young talent. As Southeast Michigan continues on its path to prosperity, it’s imperative that we work collectively to create and implement programming that sustains and produces jobs in the region.”
Clevey?s primary responsibilities include providing central coordination services, offering counseling and support to Walsh College and Wayne State University, developing a venture coaching and business support-service system and creating/fostering meaningful opportunities for both students and coaches. Clevey has 30 years experience in both private and public sector work, principally in the entrepreneurship area and most recently as Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Commercialization at Saginaw Valley State University. He also has been an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at both Saginaw Valley State University and Central Michigan University in their highly regarded entrepreneurship programs.
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