SOUTHFIELD — The Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship 2017, better known as ACE ’17, will be held Jan. 26 at the Westin Southfield hotel.
ACE celebrates and promotes entrepreneurship in the Great Lakes region by bringing together entrepreneurs, service providers, investors, students, government agents, and other members of the business community to network, learn, and connect. Hundreds of people attended ACE ’16.
The event begins at noon with registration and exhibits. Breakout sessions start at 1 p.m. and include discussions on metrics and reporting, opportunities in self-driving vehicles, mobile marketing strategies, entrepreneurial strategies, and more. There will also be a pitch competition.
ACE began in 2001 as a joint meeting hosted by the Ann Arbor New Enterprise Forum and the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Great Lakes. Today, additional organizations participate in organizing, supporting and promoting the event.
Partner organizations include Ann Arbor Spark, Bamboo Detroit, Grand Valley State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the Lawrence Technological University Collaboratory, Message Block, the Michigan Small Business Development Center, the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan, the New Enterprise Forum, SCORE of Ann Arbor and Detroit, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Techtown, and Western Michigan University and its Homer Stryker School of Medicine.
The lead sponsor of the event is the city of Southfield. Partner sponsors include the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the LTU Collaboratory, and the Birmingham business consulting firm Stanlslaw.
Co-event sponsors include Amy Cell LLC, Automation Alley, Bamboo Detroit, The Hire Effect, and the Michigan Angel Fund. Contributing sponsors include Collective Metrics, Constant Contact, the Central Michigan University – Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, Failure Lab, ISM Inc., the University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute, Grand Valley State University’s Muskegon Innovation Hub, the Mobile Technology of Michigan, the Michigan Corporate Relations Network, and Michigan’s SmartZone program.
Tickets, at $25, are available at http://www.ace-event.org
