Entrepreneurship

The DEC Community is Bringing Again its State of Entrepreneurship Occasion

March 24, 2021

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Image: useng / iStock

The Dallas Entrepreneur Center is back with its State of Entrepreneurship, an event that has become a tradition for seven years to highlight the people, places, and passions that power the growing startup ecosystem in North Texas.

In recent years, the State of Entrepreneurship (SOE) has won well-known speakers and announced important news from the local business community.

In 2019, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings took the stage to ask the audience to continue the city’s innovation advancement. The DEC announced a partnership with the North Texas Angel Network, Craig Hall remembered Herb Kelleher, Dumb Money talked about success on YouTube, and Dallas Startup Evangelist of the Year was named.

SOE had consistently been the DEC anchor event for Dallas Startup Week – but then COVID-19 hit.

“Since the beginning of 2014 with only 75 attendees, the State of Entrepreneurship has become one of the most popular events of the DEC network,” said Bill Chinn, CEO of the DEC network, in a statement. “It’s important to take stock of where we are as a business community, and the state of entrepreneurship gives us an opportunity to pause for a moment and celebrate our successes.”

Despite the constraints caused by the pandemic, the DEC Network, a nonprofit that makes economic impact by helping entrepreneurs, has advanced the state of entrepreneurship over the past year. The event aired on YouTube with special guests including Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson; Michael Shawn, radio co-host of K104FM’s DeDe In the Morning; Sanjiv Yajnik, President, Financial Services, Capital One; and Trey Bowles, co-founder of The DEC Network and President of Innocity Partners LLC.

While the vaccine continues to roll out in Dallas-Fort Worth – and the rest of the state – the DEC has decided to advance this year’s State of Entrepreneurship in a hybrid format. On May 5th, the starts, financings, exits and overall victories of local entrepreneurs in the past turbulent year will be celebrated both virtually and in person (maximum 200 participants).

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson will return along with members of his Dallas Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Force dedicated to finding steps the city of Dallas can take to make it a hub for budding entrepreneurs with big ideas do.

Speakers also include Fortune 500 executives and the executives behind some of the groundbreaking small businesses of 2020. Bowles, who also co-chairs the mayor’s task force, will take the lead.

“If we recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will have an opportunity to accelerate our growth by fostering a culture of innovation in our city,” Mayor Johnson said in a statement. “Dallas already has a resilient and diverse business community, but the State of Entrepreneurship is showing us what we need to do to keep small businesses flourishing in Dallas for years to come.”

Registration for the State of Entrepreneurship is now open. There is a $ 10 entry fee for in-person participation, which takes place at Sixty Five Hundred. Virtual participation is free.

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Dallas innovates every day.

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