Council For Entrepreneurial Development Kicks Off CAFE Workshop Series.

New Program Offers Valuable Lessons For Area Entrepreneurs

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Joan Siefert Rose, president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) (www.cednc.org), a private, nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurial efforts in the Triangle region of North Carolina, has announced the launch of the Competitive Advantage through Fundamentals of Entrepreneurs (CAFE) Workshop Series. The new breakfast program, which is scheduled to run from August 2009 to December 2010, was crafted in response to feedback obtained from CED's recently-completed member survey. CAFE has been designed as a hands-on fundamentals workshop for area entrepreneurs in varying stages of business and development.

Through CAFE, local professionals get the opportunity to learn about the critical issues that affect a company's success. Topics that will be covered include effective management, sales, raising capital, finance and cost-effective marketing strategies. Meetings will consist of brief panel discussions from prestigious organizations, followed by break-out groups for question and answers led by these established professionals, and networking opportunities.

The CAFE sessions will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on select dates at CED's offices, located at 100 Capitola Drive, Suite 106 in Durham. Entrepreneurial resource booths will be present at each meeting. The first session of the series is titled "Expanding Your Network: An Introduction to Area's Entrepreneur Support Organizations," is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13, and is free to attend. The session will feature representatives from several local organizations that exist to further support the emerging growth business community, including:

* Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)

* Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP)

* The Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)

* First Flight Venture Center

* Licensing Executives Society (LES)

* National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD)

* National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)

* North Carolina Biotechnology Center

* NC IDEA

* North Carolina Chinese Business Association (NCCBA)

* North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA)

* Renewable Energy Business Network (REBN)

* Small Business Technology Development Council (SBTDC)

* Triangle Gaming Initiative (TGI)

* TiE Carolinas

* Triangle Technology Executive Council (TTEC)

With the exception of the August 13 session, workshop fees are $10 for CED members and $40 for non-members, and registration is required to attend. A complete list and summary of each session is available at www.cednc.org/CAFE. For more information, contact Bob Pickens at [phone] or [e-mail].

Related Links:

www.cednc.org/CAFE

www.cednc.org

www.mmimarketing.com

Quotes:

"CED is excited to engage local entrepreneurs in a new and meaningful way," said Rose. "We are confident that the program, designed in response to feedback from our member survey, will be a major resource for local entrepreneurs."

About the Council for Entrepreneurial Development:

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high-growth, high-impact companies and accelerate the region's entrepreneurial culture. Headquartered in the Research Triangle Park, CED is the oldest and largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 5,500 active members. CED provides know-how, networking, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, programs and web-based resources. CED has helped entrepreneurs, investors, service partners, researchers and public policy makers in diverse emerging industries and at all stages of development - from high-tech, production-based organizations to service companies, from one-person start-ups to 1,000-person businesses. For more information, visit www.cednc.org.