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FastTracSC Connections

FastTracSC Connections
June / July 2008
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FastTrac® Graduate Wins U.S. Chamber of Commerce Award

Charleston Cookie Company in Charleston, South Carolina was honored in February with a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Small Business Award in Washington, D.C. Nominated by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, the award was given in recognition of the company’s dedication to excellence in several categories.

“Winners of the Blue Ribbon Small Business Award represent the country’s finest small business success stories,” said Tom Donohue, U.S. Chamber president and CEO. “Small businesses are the backbone of America’s economy, representing more than 99% of all employers, creating three-fourths of all new jobs, and accounting for more than one-half of the nation’s gross domestic product.”

The Blue Ribbon Small Business Award, sponsored by Sam’s Club, was designed to honor businesses that excel in a variety of selection criteria, including financial performance and business history, staff training and motivation, community involvement, customer service, and business planning.

“The Blue Ribbon Small Business award allows us to honor the tireless efforts of America’s small businesses,” said Donohue. “Charleston Cookie Company proves that a business can make a significant difference in its community.”

The U.S. Chamber is the world’s largest business federation representing more than
3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.
To learn more about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award visit www.uschamber.com.

FastTrac® Graduates are Among Winners of the 2008 New Ideas for a New Carolina Contest!
On June 4, the winners of the 2008 New Ideas for a New Carolina business idea contest were announced at the ThinkTEC Innovation Summit opening reception in Charleston. Of this year’s ten winners, four are FastTrac® graduates.

Dr. Ron Fulbright who attended TechVenture in Greenville was this year’s grand prize winner for his idea, Scentinel, a rapid-deploy, all-weather, nanosensor system used to detect the presence of thousands of elements and chemical compounds in the environment such as levels of greenhouse gasses, atmospheric conditions, water conditions or toxic agents.

Joe Milam, also a TechVenture Greenville graduate, was the Software/Information Technology category winner. His idea, BigLeapGPS, utilizes the world’s smallest GPS device coupled with a 24/7 support network dedicated to locating and recovering lost, kidnapped, or injured family members, pets or assets anywhere in the world.

Receiving the Honorable Mention in the same category was Jeff Beck, a NewVenture Charleston graduate, for oneZone Solutions, a home/business automation system that can control the temperature, lighting, security, irrigation and other home systems from any web-enabled device in the world.

The winner of the Bio-Science category was Jay Hughes, also a NewVenture Charleston graduate. His idea is the Z Box, a compact CPAP medical device that creates a positive air pressure in the esophagus and sinus cavities for those suffering from mild to severe sleep apnea.
Congratulations to all of our FastTrac® winners, and thank you for being such great representatives of FastTracSC! For more information about the contest and all of this year’s

winners, visit www.newideassc.org.

FastTrac® TechVenture Launches Three Classes in September

While the traditional business venture can typically find funding through local lenders, the assets of a technology based company face a different set of challenges. The road is less traveled for the typical tech start-up so the risk is higher.

The challenges that face tech companies in South Carolina are not new. Fortunately, with the help of the South Carolina Venture Capital Act and SCLaunch!, there is more money available, but tech giant wanna be’s have to do their part. They have to develop the business plan and prepare for investor presentations based on market facts and financial projections.

FastTrac® TechVenture helps entrepreneurs map out their vision and develop a sound plan for their company. It helps create an environment where successful entrepreneurs, launched by both bootstrapping and venture capital share their survival tips. This class is designed to prepare you for your launch. So if your eyes are filled with the desire to be the next Google, come join us. The classes begin in September and are three hours a week for 10 weeks and will truly make an impact on your business.

For class information, visit www.fasttracsc.org

FastTrac® Graduate Spotlight / Lowcountry: Judith Moore, Charleston Cookie Company

Charleston Cookie Company began with Judith Moore’s quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Moore, the company’s founder and a FastTrac® graduate, has not only found a tasty chocolate chip cookie recipe, but she has also discovered the recipe for success.

Since launching the company almost five years ago, Moore has turned Charleston Cookie Company from a Charleston favorite into nationally recognized company. The company was featured on the Rachael Ray Show in November as the “Snack of the Day” and was more recently honored with a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Small Business Award for its dedication to excellence.

The Blue Ribbon award was designed to honor businesses that excel in a variety of selection criteria, including financial performance and business history, staff training and motivation, community involvement, customer service and business planning.

Tom Donohue, U.S. Chamber president and CEO, said, “Charleston Cookie Company proves that a business can make a significant difference in its community.”

FastTrac® Graduate Spotlight / Midlands: Tao Gao, Live2Create

Live2Create, a marketing and web solutions company that designs and builds exceptional interactive experiences for clients, was founded by Tao Gao in 2005. In the two years after its start-up, Live2Create remained a small, one-man show, as Tao only worked part-time on the venture. In 2007, Live2Create added David West as a partner, and the company’s revenues and clients began to grow rapidly.

“With rapid growth, however, came some very challenging issues that we had to overcome. We were still in start-up mode and weren’t necessarily thinking like CEOs,” Gao reflects. The company had a host of business decisions that they needed help in making, and the solution they found was FastTrac.

Tao and David enrolled in a FastTrac® GrowthVenture class in Columbia, where they learned how to strategically address their core issues, manage their “passion vs. profession” dilemma, and make decisions that would impact their bottom line operations. Gao says, “FastTrac® has provided me with the knowledge and tools to grow my business the right way. The best part is the networking opportunity with other business owners and entrepreneurs. Many of them have become our friends and referrals.”

FastTrac® Graduate Spotlight / Upstate: Ashley Cuttino, Scrapbook Blogger

Before the birth of her first child, Ashley Cuttino began blogging to keep friends and family informed about her experiences as a new mom. An entrepreneur at heart, Cuttino soon decided to turn her new hobby into a business.

Having little time to devote to both her blogging and to making a traditional scrapbook of her new child’s development, she realized that there must be some way to preserve the online scrapbook she had already created in her blog. Ashley made the decision to find a way to print and bind her blog into a hard copy, coffee table style book that could be enjoyed for generations. Hence, Scrapbook Blogger was born.

Cuttino attended FastTrac® TechVenture in Greenville last fall and officially launched Scrapbook Blogger in 2008. She says that FastTrac helped her to evaluate her idea and her business plan, as well as make important business connections as she builds the company.

Since Cuttino graduated from FastTrac®, Scrapbook Blogger has been accepted as a client company for SCLaunch!. Cuttino writes in her blog, “We hope that by working with SC Launch! we will be able to help our company grow into a true success.”

Upcoming FastTrac® Classes

FastTracSC, with programs all across the state, announces upcoming Entrepreneurial Training Programs. Join the network of hundreds of other South Carolina Entrepreneurs and get your business off the ground or take your existing business to new levels.

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Columbia
Date: 07-29-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Tuesdays for 10 sessions in Columbia

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Orangeburg
Date: 09-08-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Mondays for 10 sessions in Orangeburg

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Rock Hill
Date: 09-08-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Mondays for 10 sessions in Rock Hill

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Bluffton
Date: 09-08-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Mondays for 10 sessions in Bluffton

FastTrac® NewVenture - Charleston
Date: 09-09-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Tuesdays for 10 sessions in Charleston

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Georgetown
Date: 09-09-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Tuesdays for 10 sessions in Georgetown

FastTrac® TechVenture- Charleston
Date: 09-10-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Wednesdays for 10 sessions in Charleston

FastTrac® TechVenture- Greenville
Date: 09-10-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Wednesdays for 10 sessions in Greenville

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Greenville
Date: 09-11-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Thursdays for 10 sessions in Greenville

FastTrac® GrowthVenture - Charleston
Date: 09-11-2008
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Meets Thursdays for 10 sessions in Charleston

The FastTrac® Entrepreneurial Training courses, FastTrac® NewVenture, geared toward the budding entrepreneur, and FastTrac® GrowthVenture, geared toward entrepreneurs with existing businesses who want to take it to new levels, led by experienced facilitators in conjunction with mentor workshop leaders who are entrepreneurs with extensive company building, bootstrapping, and fund-raising experience. For more information visit www.fasttracsc.org or call Vickie Waller, FastTracSC Coordinator at 805.3110 or vwaller@charlestonchamber.org.

Tidbits from FastTracSC Director

Welcome to FastTracSC Connections!

Are you a budding entrepreneur?

Are you a small business owner?

Do you want to see if your business ideas have legs before you invest?

FastTracSC offers the award-winning FastTrac® Entrepreneurial Programs of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation throughout the state. Interactive programs for entrepreneurs, designed and facilitated by entrepreneurs, FastTrac® can help you move your venture to reality or new levels of growth.
FastTracSC continues to try and develop new ways to communicate with current, past and future students! FastTracSC Connections, a bi-monthly, newsletter will enable us to continue to bridge the gap on communication.

For more information on FastTrac® visit www.fasttracsc.org or to learn how you can become a part of the newsletter contact Emily Brown at ebrown@charlestonchamber.org.
Thanks!
Vickie Waller
FastTracSC Director

Resources

www.fasttracsc.org
www.thinktec.org
www.gsatc.org
www.uschamber.com
www.charlestonchamber.net
www.columbiachamber.com
www.florencescchamber.org
www.greenvillechamber.org
www.sba.gov
www.sccommerce.com
www.mid.tec.sc.us
www.smallbusinesscharleston.org

Sponsor Spotlight

Thank You to BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina!!!

Thanks to the support of the State of South Carolina and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (www.southcarolinablues.com) we are able to offer the FastTrac programs at a discounted rate. Please see Program Pages on www.fasttracsc.org for individual pricing.