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David Wilhelm to Keynote SSTI's 12th Annual Conference
Most Digest readers know access to equity capital serves a critical role in encouraging regional innovation. But the stats on venture capital (VC) deals demonstrates all too well that money isn't flowing freely everywhere. The economy also is presenting challenges for equity deals, making exits more scarce. How can underserved areas attract early-, seed and late-stage capital?
Keeping with the underlying theme of "Where Does TBED Go from Here?" for SSTI's 12th annual conference, we are quite excited to announce David Wilhelm, founder and President of Woodland Venture Management, will provide the keynote address on the topic of making successful VC investments anywhere.
Woodland Venture Management is a company dedicated to the proposition that entrepreneurial vision and managerial talent may be found anywhere, including the hills of central Appalachia and the prairies of the Midwest. To this end, Mr. Wilhelm launched Adena Ventures and Hopewell Ventures, with a combined $140 million under management, bringing investment capital to high-growth companies situated in these underserved regions of the country. Today, these VC funds have invested millions of dollars in companies located in communities such as Marquette, Mich.; Nelsonville, Ohio; Charleston, W.Va.; and Lansing, Ill., creating hundreds of jobs for the people who live there and the prospect of strong returns for the investors that backed the basic Woodland premise: The flip side of a capital gap is a market opportunity!
SSTI's 12th Annual Conference, Encouraging Regional Innovation, will take place Oct. 14-16 at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland in Northeast Ohio. We had to turn people away from last year's sold-out conference - don't let it happen to you in 2008. Registration forms and more information are available at http://www.ssticonference.org/.