Some markets earn you big bucks; others disappoint. Below is a list of New Jersey markets at which some of the Intersect Fund’s most seasoned vendors have found success. If you have one you’d like to add to the list, e-mail Joe Shure to let him know.
Jeanne Gray has a knack for turning small businesses into big ones.
While some entrepreneurs fantasize about cashing out and settling down, Gray finds pleasure in a business’s chaotic start-up phase, a time during which anything is possible. “I love that little period of time when a company struggles with where its full potential is,” she said.
She’s transformed businesses she’s owned and ones for which she’s consulted, and she seeks to impart good business sense to countless peers through a growing network of entrepreneur-targeted news sites that include NJ Entrepreneur, NY Entrepreneur, and others, all under the umbrella of U.S. Entrepreneur Today.
Photo: Flickr/mick/Lumix
Gold watches were once the gift of choice for corporate employers bidding farewell to longtime employees.
But when downsizing cost Barbara Jones her IBM job in the mid-1990s, Jones received something far more valuable: an entrepreneurship class. The class forced Jones to assess her skills and think critically about where her passions lay, and she settled on opening a flower shop. “I wanted to do something different,” she said, adding that she relished the chance to design aesthetically pleasing arrangements and build a following of loyal customers.
Student representatives work in break out groups to develop a vision for collaboration
Last weekend, the Intersect Fund hosted the first-ever gathering of student-run microenterprise programs in the nation. Over the last two months, with the help of FIELD, we two-day agenda to share emerging best practices and experiences — and perhaps even develop a vision for collaboration. We even got Intersect Fund clients Sam Johnson and Pearl Thompson to do the catering. In attendance were:
What an incredible two days it was. Having this much brainpower in the room allowed us to talk shop and get advice from others who had experienced much of the same things we have. The number of different approaches, products, and services was fascinating — from green credit builder loans to partnerships with credit unions — especially given how young most of the programs are.
Hours before we adjourned, the consensus in the room was that we should form some sort of alliance that would allow for distributed costs for resources (i.e. Credit Builders Alliance, MicroTest) and sharing of best practices.
I left the conference energized with new ideas and great hope about the awareness we can bring to the industry and the magnitude of what we can accomplish together.
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The Intersect Fund
109 Church Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 732-447-1324
Fax: 504-910-5271
info@intersectfund.org
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