About the Conference

The Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities (CEC) Conference is a community development initiative that brings together entrepreneurs, business leaders, economic development professionals, decision makers, and community champions to strengthen and broaden regional entrepreneurial networks.

In-person CEC events have been held in Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and are planned for Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, hosted by University Extension organizations.

Due to COVID-19, all in-person events have been postponed. However, technology allows us to still share great programming and ideas! To that end, EIGHT state University Extension teams are collaborating to offer a week-long virtual conference in November 2020. In this first of it's kind offering, the program development team is excited to offer participants from across the states access to programming and ideas from seven states!

The organizers hope that this event will:

1. Serve as a space where the tools and resources available to support entrepreneurs are showcased

2. Provide participants with the opportunity to learn from each other and share best practices in supporting entrepreneurial network development in their communities

3. Build a network or people who have more tools and knowledge of other state and national resources available to support entrepreneurial ecosystem development.

4. Learn about specific tools and resources that can be implemented in your community