Five Questions With: Tobias Stapleton

Tobias Stapleton, assistant vice chancellor and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, talks with Providence Business News about the Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the center. The featured speaker is Hanson Grant, 21, who will discuss his startup, Think Board, a clear, reusable, removable vinyl adhesive film that can be used on a desk, wall, table, refrigerator or any other smooth surface. The event is open to the public. Information can be found HERE.

PBN: Tell me about the Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
STAPLETON:
The UMass Dartmouth Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a business incubator that is focused on increasing the number of startups within Southern New England and supporting existing businesses, by offering incubator space, programming, laboratories, a fully functioning machine shop and a prototype development lab, which includes a 3-D printer. The Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum is a program of the CIE, and managed by a volunteer board of directors, that delivers nine high-quality programs a year which include topical forums and networking for entrepreneurs and businesses.

PBN: How long have you been chair of SNEEF? How many members do you have?
STAPLETON:
I have been the director of the CIE for a year, and I’ve been chair of SNEEF for almost four years. Currently the organization has 100 members, who pay an annual fee to attend all nine of our programs, but average attendance at our monthly meetings is 40 people. And the majority of those attendees are not members.

PBN: How did you hear about Hanson Grant’s business? Did he work with the center?
STAPLETON:
We have a great board of directors, and program committee, who all have tremendous networks throughout the region’s entrepreneur, investment and business development community. And, it was one of those board members, Sherry Alpert, from Sherry Alpert Corporate Communications in Canton, Mass., who was able to connect us with Hanson and Think Board.

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PBN: What do you hope people get out of attending the Feb. 11 program and hearing a story like Hanson’s?
STAPLETON:
We hope that, like with most of our programs, people will get equal parts inspiration and practical advice. We particularly hope that students will attend and become interested in entrepreneurship.

PBN: Do you have any advice for would-be entrepreneurs?
STAPLETON:
My biggest piece of advice for would-be entrepreneurs is to take some time to learn what resources are available to them to start their business. Many entrepreneurs are unaware that there are federal, state and local resources available to help them start or grow their business. The Small Business Development Center, Service Corp of Retired Executives and the Small Business Administration are but a couple of examples of these types of organizations.

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