PORT HURON ? St. Clair Community College and the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County wanted to connect promising college students with deep-pocketed businessmen and women to see if the mix would generate technology start ups. The result ? GLIMABluewater, the first of two GLIMA chapter launched in January.
GLIMABluewater, representing the Port Huron region, hosted its first networking event Jan. 11 at St. Clair Community College. Wireless Resources of Madison Heights presented a program on the state of wireless technology today. Sixty people attended.
?We had a good mix of students and business leaders and service industry people,? said GLIMABluewater spokesman Tom Kephart. ?We had energy and electrical industries people attend. We did do a membership explanation of what GLIMA is all about.?
And for GLIMABluewater, what it?s all about is keeping talented technology professionals and students in St. Clair County by providing them with the means and opportunity to start businesses. St. Clair County, a member of Automation Alley, also borrowed heavily from the Automation Alley model ? networking among business people to serve as a catalyst for positive economic change.
Last fall, St. Clair Community College President Rose Bellanca attended an event where Automation Alley Executive Director Ken Rogers spoke. When GLIMA Director Phil Bertolini followed up, Bellanca got behind backing a GLIMA chapter for St. Clair Country.
?We wanted a networking group that was good for students and the business people in area to connect, and for students to see some additional things in the educational seminars we plan to put on,? Kephart said. ?GLIMA provided us with the tools we needed to get the job done.?
For more information, click on GLIMABluewater.Org
