La. firms part of first AAE initiative

Sixteen Louisiana companies have become the inaugural participants in a new American Academy of Entrepreneurs initiative to accelerate business growth and develop relationships among second-stage companies, typically with 10-to-99 employees. Common issues can include building teams, growing and focusing on new targeted opportunities. The program was launched in July by the Louisiana Economic Development and the Michigan-based Edward Lowe Foundation, which hopes to expand the academy to growing businesses in regions throughout the U.S. “We are honored that Louisiana will be America’s first state to launch the American Academy of Entrepreneurs program,” LED Secretary Don Pierson said. The initiative began July 28. Participating companies are paired with mentor businesses, and will engage in six monthly one-on-one meetings to collaborate and focus on an identified scope of work.  Businesses participating in the mentorship program: aVeriFact of Hammond; Bespoke Experiences of New Orleans; BrandRusso of Lafayette; Bulldog Services of Broussard; CyberReef Solutions of Shreveport; Chief of Minds of Baton Rouge; Confetti Momma of Lafayette; E-Claim.com of Harvey; Flexicrew Technical Services of Metairie; Greenup Industries of Gonzales; ITinspired of Baton Rouge; K-Belle Consultants of New Orleans; MS Benbow & Associates of Metairie; Online Optimism in New Orleans; Solscapes of Lecompte; and Utiliserve in Bossier City. (Source: NOLA.com 08/16/20) https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_d89fe996-dcc0-11ea-93bb-df0765b538bb.html