March 3, 2011 - 5:05pm
SPARK holds workshop series in effort to grow local businesses
BY JENNA SIMARD
SPARK — an Ann Arbor-based economic development association — held a business workshop yesterday as the first in a series of monthly events geared toward helping new entrepreneurs cope with legal issues in the business world.
A private non-profit organization, SPARK assists both new and well-established businesses with issues ranging from corporate funding to human resources.
Elizabeth Parkinson, director of marketing and public relations for SPARK, said the company has an impressive tool kit to help its corporate clients thrive, including access to grants, tax incentives and assistance in hiring talented employees.
Every year, Parkinson added, SPARK puts on a number of workshop series geared towards educating entrepreneurs about succeeding in the business world. Parkinson said this year’s major topic — business law and order — aims to guide companies away from significant legal issues in the future.
“This is a direct result of companies asking for this,” Parkinson said.
Parkinson went on to say that many companies, especially new ones, are unaware of the many legal issues that face businesses. This series, she said, is intended to answer the question, “How do businesses make the right decisions, so they don’t get in to troubles later on?”
The workshop series, held in SPARK’s central headquarters on East Liberty Street, will include a number of speakers from various law firms around the state. Yesterday’s event, which was attended by some 30 representatives of various businesses, featured Bill Kregel from Dykema law firm, Ed Hammond from Clark Hill PLC and Tom Hammerschmidt of Dickinson Wright PLLC — all of who addressed business formation and equity-based compensation.
“The nice thing about having a legal business series is you can look at a number of more specific topics within the broad topic,” said Uzma Ahmad, an associate of Dykema law firm and the series’ moderator.
Through the workshop series, businesses will gain an awareness of what issues face them when seeking legal counsel, according to Parkinson. She said SPARK is very committed to helping local businesses thrive, adding that lecture slides from each speaker will be posted on its website and that each event will also be webcast within the next few weeks.
“We would like to make this as community-involved as possible,” Parkinson told the audience yesterday.
SPARK is also involved with a number of the University’s organizations, including TechArb, a student business incubator, and MPowered, which is a student organization that aims to get students involved in entrepreneurship.
“We are hopeful that we will see more and more student participation in our events,” Parkinson said.
