Sights set on the horizon
As of late, quite a few people have been asking me what's on the horizon for the Twelve Cities Project. I've been hinting towards "exciting things to come in the future," and Thursday night, I unveiled the next leg of the Twelve Cities Project before a crowd of nearly 100 people in Wunderkammer Company's new space on Fairfield Avenue in Fort Wayne.
Welcome to the Twelve Cities Fellowship.
Those of you who know me well know that I'm constantly looking for ways to extend opportunities to young people that have had an immense impact on my life and have enabled me to maximize my potential as an individual. The Twelve Cities Project has done that and more - yet after a number of conversations with young entrepreneurial types throughout the country, I've found that many of them have the ideas, wherewithal, and stamina to take on something similar to what I'm doing, but lack the network of support to get it off the ground, which was preexisting for me due to my history working closely with a number of economic development-focused entities throughout Northeast Indiana.
Thursday night's theme, as I've been told, rang throughout the halls of Wunderkammer and was still ringing in the ears of attendees the following day. During the presentation and unveiling, I emphasized the importance of social connectivity as a driver of economic growth, particularly in two facets:
Internal connectivity - resident-to-resident connection / communication, and
External connectivity - resident of city A to resident of city B
When these two facets are paired together effectively, they have the ability to funnel immense amounts of intellectual, creative, and social capital into a region that can stimulate entrepreneurial growth and foster innovation.
Thursday evening's announcement of the Twelve Cities Fellowship paralleled that theme perfectly. The fellowship will be used as a talent attraction tool for Northeast Indiana (and other regions in the future - more on that in the coming months) to import the best, brightest, and most entrepreneurial young people throughout the region and anchor them in Northeast Indiana for a period of at least three years. During their tenure as a fellow, they will be tasked with visiting twelve cities throughout the country to study entrepreneurship and startup culture side-by-side in an apprenticeship-style format with successful entrepreneurs, CEOs, startup founders, and community leaders to learn the ins-and-outs of launching a venture of their own. Additionally, they will be tasked with launching a venture of their own and investing into it the social capital they've collected along the way in order to stimulate growth.
The full text of the announcement can be seen below. As with any venture, the fellowship is subject to pivoting - the first year or two will be an experiment for us to find out what works, what problems need to be solved, and what solutions can be developed for those problems. I'm excited to see it take form and look forward to the opportunities it holds ahead!
Fort Wayne Teen Unveils Fellowship Program for Young Entrepreneurs
Program aims to strengthen Northeast Indiana’s entrepreneurial ability
FORT WAYNE, IN – In September of 2011, then 18 year-old Fort Wayne native Nick Arnett began an ambitious tour of twelve cities across the country in a quest to study how other locations attract talent, foster innovation, and catalyze economic growth. Thursday evening, he took it to the next level by unveiling plans for a fellowship program to increase entrepreneurship among Northeast Indiana’s young people.
The Twelve Cities Fellowship, a program of nonprofit Twelve Cities Project Inc., was announced before a crowd of nearly 100 people Thursday evening at an event held in partnership with Wunderkammer Company, a not-for-profit that will soon be housed in what was formerly Casa D’Angelos. Arnett presented observations, stories, and findings from his first four trips and emphasized the importance of social connectivity in catalyzing economic growth – something the fellowship aims to build. The fellowship is set to debut in July of 2013 by sending three fellows on a year-long voyage to study entrepreneurship in twelve different cities across the country. Each trip will last one week, during which fellows will be learning the ins-and-outs of launching their own venture from CEOs, successful entrepreneurs, and leaders throughout the country in an apprenticeship-style format. In between trips, fellows will work with area partners and community groups to help foster a culture of entrepreneurship among Northeast Indiana’s young people through guidance, mentorship, and providing access to resources they have collected throughout their visits.
In addition to the visits, fellows will be tasked with launching a venture of their own during their tenure as a fellow and committing to locating it in Northeast Indiana for at least three years. $2,500 of seed money will be provided to each fellow accepted into the program, as well as access to a local network of mentors to help them conceptualize, plan, and launch their venture. The fellowship’s first three years of programming are expected to cost roughly $300,000, but it is hoped that the program will be entirely self-sustaining by the fifth year as fellows will be asked to dedicate a small percentage of their venture’s revenue to the ongoing work of the fellowship for a period of four years following their tenure.Tonight marked the launch the fellowship’s fundraising campaign and the establishment of a national mentor network. Applications for the program will be available in January of 2013.
“Northeast Indiana is in the midst of an exciting entrepreneurial revolution. From my travels to other cities over the past several months, I can tell that we’re nearing a tipping point of catalytic economic growth,” said Nick Arnett, founder of the Twelve Cities Project. “I’ve never witnessed such an exciting time to live in this region. The fellowship program offers Fort Wayne an opportunity to dramatically enhance its connectivity to the nation’s startup scene and produce real, tangible benefits to residents at the same time in the form of knowledge, future job growth, and increased access to capital. It’s a win-win scenario.”
Arnett reported that before the fellowship launches he intends to first complete his tour with the Twelve Cities Project, having eight more cities to visit. He emphasized the importance of connectivity between Fort Wayne’s residents and the residents of other cities in fostering innovation, spurring entrepreneurship, and enhancing Northeast Indiana’s quality of opportunity. Within just a few short years, the fellowship program has the potential to dramatically increase Fort Wayne’s connectivity to entrepreneurs throughout the country.
For more information about the fellowship and the Twelve Cities Project, visit www.twelvecitiesproject.com.