Posted by Chuck Chase on Oct 03, 2019
Mark Murray kicked things off by mentioning that Hospice of Lenawee’s Candlelight Event will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on December 15th in tribute to loved ones and friends who have passed. It will start at either 5:30pm or 6pm.
 
Mark introduced Tim Roberts who a business owner and will soon be moving his business to downtown Adrian called Acropolis Games and a member of the 2nd Launch Lenawee class that will graduate on November 1st. Tim highly praised the Launch Lenawee program and couldn’t say enough about the networking opportunities it provided. Tim said that there will be an open house at his new business on November 9 and 10 and invited all to attend. The DDA is hosting a meeting next Wednesday (October 9) at 5:30pm in the City Commission Chambers.
 
Mark then returned to the podium and told the audience that the year old Launch Lenawee program is a Rotary-based program similar to and patterned after the Launch Detroit model supported to a great extent by the Lenawee Chamber, Lenawee Now, and many volunteers who serve budding entrepreneurs to help them get up and running with their businesses. The program, Mark said, consists of education, networking, mentoring and micro-loans. The overall goal, he said, was to support people like Tim who are the next generation of entrepreneurs in our community. Mark said that he was looking to strike up a possible partnership with SHU as well as Adrian High School to provide core entrepreneurial services to folks that would connect them to local bankers who could support them financially and help grow them into successful businesses. The Adrian Armory and Events Center, he said, was pleased to announce that they have opened their facility hosted just this past year over 150 events to the public. He thanked our club for our donation to the Community Kitchen and other services clubs and organizations for their support.
 
Mark said that they will be starting their third class this January. Half of the volunteers in Launch Lenawee are Rotarians, he said. The first 10 weeks of the training is called Fast Track which is a blended on-line program. Participants, over time. Are expected to have a formal business plan from which to launch their business, Mark said. If you would like to volunteer to help set up meetings, be a business mentor, etc. just call Mark or Mary.