Pottery mixes with venture capital at event
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By MARK GUNDERMAN mark.gunderman@lee.net
Friday, September 21, 2007 9:42 PM CDT
Jerry Johnson of the UW-Stout engineering and economics department asked a hundred or so people at the Heyde Center Thursday whether they noticed that “white thing” down on the sidewalk when they came in.
Pretty much everyone did, though they didn’t know what to make of it. Then again, most didn’t know what to make of what they were supposed to experience inside at the first-ever Culture and Capital in the Chippewa Valley event, sponsored by the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation and the Heyde Center.
Well, that white thing was a refrigerator that could also hold a cooking range on top, uniquely designed for easy access from a wheelchair.
“We think there is quite a bit of redesign of interiors that can be done for people to make them more independent,” said Johnson.
He spoke to a group that included private people of means, known as “Angel Investors,” and representatives of businesses that provide venture capital to entrepreneurs.
That was the idea behind the event: To bring entrepreneurs with fledgling companies together with potential investors in the hopes that a spark will set off some economic development activities.
For this particular event, the entrepreneurs tended to be in arts-related businesses, hence the name “culture and capital.”
Some of the businesses represented were involved in culinary arts, such as Kayanna Spooner of Lilybelle Bakery and Confectionary, and her downtown Chippewa Falls neighbor Lucy’s Delicatessen, part of the Cindi Pulver’s Foreign Five store.
Both had tables full of delicious samples, which people enjoyed with samples from Autumn Harvest Winery. Connell’s Orchard also had some sample products available.
Each of the entrepreneurs made some brief remarks about his or her business.
Rick Meredith of Sophisticated Mud Studio of Elk Mound displayed some of his pottery and art and spoke of the fun of learning about pottery in a hands-on fashion at his business.
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