1 Million Cups Features Two Local Entrepreneurs

The second monthly meeting of 1 Million Cups took place Wednesday at State Fair Community College with Jessica Craig, executive director of The Learning Center, as emcee.

The Learning Center has set up a small business development center designed to serve the central Missouri area, Craig explained.

Entrepreneurs who need help with business plans and how to market their business can find resources at SFCC's small business development center, she noted.

Sedalia is one of 88 communities in the US to launch the program designed to educate, engage and connect entrepreneurs. The free program was developed by the Kauffman Foundation. The first meeting in Sedalia was held in April, with subsequent meetings planned for the first Wednesday of the month through December at the Thompson Conference Center in the Heckart Applied Health and Science Building on the SFCC campus.

Wednesday's presenters were allowed six minutes each for their presentation, followed by a 15-20 minute Q&A session. George Owens, founder of Spotter Cone, was the first presenter. He displayed his invention that makes backing up big rigs such as trucks and RVs much safer and easier.

The Sacred Heart graduate demonstrated how he developed his product, which consisted of two cones, one red, one pea green, that assists the driver with two laser beams projected onto the ground. He noted statistics from the US Department of Transportation that state about a quarter of the accidents that occur annually in the trucking industry involve trucks that are in reverse. Owens' invention may help reduce that number.

The other featured presenter Wednesday was Cliff Callis, president of Callis integrated Marketing in Sedalia. Callis noted the importance of consistent and integrated online branding and marketing for a business. He added that over the past 30 years, marketing has been revolutionized by the Internet.

Craig encouraged the public to attend future 1 Million Cups meeting at State Fair. “This is an open, public event. We want this to be a free, networking, engaging and educational opportunity for individuals, community and civic leaders, entrepreneurs and for those small businesses throughout our region, whether they are an early-stage new company or a company that is 30 years old; we want for this to be a community resource,” she said.

Craig mentioned the website for more information and a list of upcoming presentation: www.1millioncups.com/sedalia and also their Facebook page: facebook.com/1millioncupssedalia as well as a Twitter page: @1MillionCupsSed.

The next free, public meeting is scheduled for June 1 from 9 to 10 a.m. at SFCC.