EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Eastern Michigan University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and CEO Club will be hosting the annual SESI Midwest Entrepreneurship Conference on Friday, March 13, 2020 at the EMU Student Center Ballroom, located at 900 Oakwood Street in Ypsilanti.

The SESI Midwest Entrepreneurship Conference offers an opportunity for college and high school students to celebrate entrepreneurship, network with entrepreneurship-minded students and learn from the leaders in the field. The SESI Conference features notable business leaders and entrepreneurs and is designed to foster an entrepreneurship culture. Students and instructors, entrepreneurs and anyone working in the field of entrepreneurship in the region are invited to attend the free event. 

The conference will include the Skandalaris Business Plan Competition, in which college and high school students compete in separate categories for a chance at thousands of dollars in prize money. Finalists will present their business plans as they compete for first, second and third prize.  

Breakfast and networking will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the first of two keynote speakers of the day at 9:15 a.m. Brenda Discher, SVP, Business Strategy & Marketing at Siemens Digital, will deliver the first of two keynote addresses.

Following Discher’s keynote, two breakout sessions will be hosted, featuring four guest speakers: Ashley Williams, the founder of RIZZARR Detroit, Josh Holowicki, the founder of E2i designs, Todd Girdis, assistant director of entrepreneurial service at Spark East, and Christa Chambers-Price, CEO of Entre-SLAM, Inc.

At noon, the luncheon keynote speaker, Jerome Harvey of Harvey Enterprises will speak about entrepreneurship.

The Skandalaris Business Plan Competition presentations and awards will start after lunch.

To register for the conference, visit the registration website. 

Established in 1986, EMU's Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) strives to enhance a culture of entrepreneurship in the EMU community by supporting a strong entrepreneurship curriculum and offering a variety of co-curricular programs. The CFE also encourages local entrepreneurship by engaging EMU students and faculty in innovation, business creation and growth in southeast Michigan.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information, visit the University's website.