Snyder is CEO, Chairman of the Board and co-founder of Ardesta LLC, a high tech venture capital firm located in Ann Arbor—also the home of his campaign headquarters. He previously served as CEO and chairman of Gateway, Inc. In July 2009, Snyder announced his campaign for governor of Michigan as a Republican in the 2010 election.

Rick Snyder - Innovator and Candidate for Governor

“We are excited to host Rick Snyder and anxious to hear his 10-point reinvention plan for Michigan,” said Chamber President Jennifer Knott Giering. “It’s important that we offer our membership access to high level key opinion leaders.”

Snyder’s 10-point plan to reinvent Michigan includes: creating more and better jobs; reformation of Michigan’s tax system; fixing broken government; restoration of cities and control of urban sprawl.

“We will celebrate success if and only if we accomplish these goals,” said Snyder at a recent town hall meeting in Grand Rapids. “The voting public must demand more from the governor and government. We will accomplish these goals!”

Dearborn Free Press readers may recall reading about Snyder’s participation in the Midwest Conference on Entrepreneurship that was held in Dearborn last fall.

The Chamber’s Business Builders Breakfast in October is one of four such events planned for the year. Previous speakers included Ford Motor Company’s Alan Mulally and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. Individual tickets are available ($30 for members; $35 for non-members) as well as corporate tables ($400) by going to www.dearbornchamber.org.

The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce works to promote the best interests of nearly 600 member businesses by helping them connect with prospective customers, promote products and services, succeed in business through increasing sales and saving money, and to be a leader in the Dearborn community.

Rick Snyder- Innovator and Venture Capitalist

Rick Snyder will be one of the keynote speakers.  Mr. Snyder was formerly president of Gateway Computer, and the first chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.  Snyder is currently the Chairman and CEO of Ardesta, a venture capital firm that invests in innovative startups.  Since 1991, his primary business activities have focused on the technology industry and the development of emerging and high growth companies. Rick also recently announced his candidacy for Michigan Governor “because he believes it is time for a leader with a strong entrepreneurial background to reinvent Michigan.”

From 1991 to 1997, Rick served as executive vice president and then president and COO of Gateway, Inc. His responsibilities included overseeing all company operations and assisting in the strategic direction of the company. During his tenure at Gateway, the company grew from a privately held $500 million company to a NYSE-traded organization with revenues in excess of $6 billion. In 1997, Rick founded and led Avalon Investments, Inc., a venture capital company targeted at investments in technology-oriented ventures. Avalon was established as a $100 million fund targeting early stage technology investments. From 1997 to 2000, it invested in 24 companies, including several that were started based on technology transferred from universities.

Other keynote speakers include:

• Dr. Roger Newton, President and CEO of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
• Lesa Mitchel, Vice President of the Kauffman Foundation
• Vinita Gupta, Chairman and CEO, Quick Eagle Networks
• Gary C. Peters, U.S. Congressman, 9th District, Michigan
• Subhendu Guha, Ph.D., President and COO, United Solar Ovonic
• Daniel Mulhern
• Josh Linkner, Founder and CEO of ePrize
• Ned Staebler, Vice President of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation
• Robbie Hardy, Consultant with the Kauffman Foundation

Additionally, TiECon Midwest 2009 features include:

• Power Connect – a focused networking session attendees and 50 industry experts, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
• Business Boot Camp – to train bold entrepreneurs with technical ingenuity and groundbreaking ideas to consider the practical aspects of managing a company. Four sessions will be led by battle-tested industry experts focused on: raising funds, legal issues, building teams, scaling sales, and creating awareness among targeted audiences through marketing and PR campaigns.
• High-powered keynote speakers from all over the world.
• A Business Plan Competition

As Michigan businesses struggle in the current economy,  the TiE Midwest conference in Dearborn provides a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, explore new businesses, discuss emerging technologies, share growth strategies and obtain insight from global business leaders, community leaders and worldwide experts.

Leading the Business Bootcamp will be:

• Randal Charlton, Executive Director of Detroit Tech Town
• Patrick M. O’Keefe, Founder of O’Keefe and Associates
• Joe Urbany, Professor of Marketing at the University of Notre Dame
• Terry Bean, Founder of  Motor City Connect
• Michael Gaiss, Senior VP for Highland Capital Partners

Online registration and more information are immediately available for TiECon Midwest 2009 at http://www.tieconmidwest.org and http://www.detroit.tie.org.

—

For more information about the conference, please contact Nicole Raymond, TiE Detroit (248)254-4013, (248)631-9263, or via e-mail at nicole.raymond@detroit.tie.org.

TiE is a global, not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurs across its international network sponsored by top Venture Capital Firms, and Fortune 500 corporations; spread across 53 chapters in 12 countries comprising 1800 experienced entrepreneurs and business executives as charter members, 12000 aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals as members. TiE has grown to become the world’s largest non-profit organization for entrepreneurs.