Celebrating UK and Lexington Entrepreneurship Nov. 18-24

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2019) — For one week a year in November, cities around the world focus on celebrating the job creators, disruptors and outside of the box thinkers that make up the global entrepreneurial community. The University of Kentucky, the city of Lexington and members of the Lexington entrepreneurial ecosystem, will join together to celebrate the Global Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 18-24.

Lexington Global Entrepreneurship Week 2019 (GEWLEX) will include 18 community events over the course of the week. These events include networking opportunities, panels, talks, as well as educational workshops and webinars. All events are open to the public, and most events are free. To learn more about the week’s events, visit the GEWLEX website at www.gewlex.com.

The week of events is made possible by a collaboration between the UK Office of Technology Commercialization, Commerce Lexington Inc., Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development (CED), Base110 and Awesome Inc.

“GEWLEX events provide quality, actionable information from trusted local professionals that startup founders and entrepreneurs need to create and grow successful Kentucky startups,” said Eric Hartman, associate director of New Ventures at the UK Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC). Hartman will present the GEWLEX Crossing the Chasm workshop at the UK Gatton Student Center on the morning of Nov. 19. The UK Entrepreneurs Club will host a panel session for aspiring student entrepreneurs later that same day.

“Entrepreneurship is a key component of our economic development efforts,” said Gina Greathouse, executive vice president of economic development at Commerce Lexington Inc. “GEWLEX will further develop and strengthen our ecosystem in Lexington connecting our entrepreneurs to resources and best practices to support their success.”

Commerce Lexington Inc. and the UK Office of Technology Commercialization will co-host the GEWLEX Brass Tacks workshops Monday, Nov. 18. The workshops will provide assistance for startup companies on marketing in the morning and professional service needs in the afternoon. Both organizations will also co-host the annual GEWLEX Beer and BMC event presented by West 6th Brewing Monday evening.

SPARK will host “Who Got the Money,” an annual event celebrating entrepreneurship in Central Kentucky, Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the Woodford Reserve Club at Kroger Field. SPARK organizers Commerce Lexington and UK OTC will present annual awards highlighting successes of local startup companies at this special event.

“As Lexington’s community of entrepreneurs and creatives continues to grow, GEWLEX has become an annual, must-attend event. It is a great time for entrepreneurs to network and for them to learn about the resources available to grow their ideas and companies,” said Tim Guthrie, co-owner of Base110. Base110 will host the GEWLEX Spotlight Entrepreneur luncheon event Friday, Nov. 22. The luncheon will feature FlyWire Cameras, a Lexington startup company that is using artificial intelligence and machine vision technologies to solve the problem of sustainability for the worldwide fisheries industry.

GEWLEX will feature a special edition of Lexington’s Startup Breakfast Wednesday, Nov. 20, featuring the launch of the StartupLex Resource Guide. The event, located at DV8 Kitchen, will provide opportunities for startup entrepreneurs to meet and network with local service providers that are featured in the resource guide. The resource guide will be free and available to the public at the Startup Lex website.

“GEWLEX provides our city with a chance to celebrate all that is going on in the entrepreneurial community as well as an opportunity for people to ‘try out’ entrepreneurship,” said Brian Raney, co-founder of Awesome Inc. Awesome Inc. will facilitate and host Startup Weekend LEX, the finale event to GEWLEX 2019. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing and market validation. Startup Weekend LEX, which runs from Friday, Nov. 22, through Sunday, Nov. 24, is a fan favorite of students and entrepreneurship enthusiasts.

Awesome Inc., along with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, will also host the annual Kentucky Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 20, in Louisville.

Lexington Global Entrepreneurship Week 2019 is supported in part by sponsorships. Presenting sponsor DeSalvo & Company CPAs will provide the GEWLEX Infinite Getaway prize for one lucky startup community member who attends at least one GEWLEX event.

For more information on Lexington Global Entrepreneurship Week, contact Eric Hartman at eric.hartman@uky.edu.