Fort Wayne & NE Indiana News

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Business

DeKalb County’s “Launch Tank’ Event Tuesday Night

Launch DeKalb County, a competition for young entrepreneurs, is hosting a Launch Tank event Tuesday evening, April 18, featuring student finalists’ business plan presentations. The event, which is open to the public, will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at the County Line Church of God, 7716 North County Line Road East, in Auburn.

Students from all four high schools in DeKalb County (DeKalb, Garrett, Eastside and Lakewood Park) are participating in the business plan competition. Judging will be performed by local business leaders along with representatives of the participating colleges and universities that are providing scholarship awards. The DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership Board of Directors also will be represented.

“Launch DeKalb County prepares students to work through challenges associated with taking an idea and testing its feasibility, finding assistance, organizing resources and presenting a plan for success,” according to Chris Straw, president of Team Quality Services and coordinator of the Launch DeKalb program. “These are skills that will help them succeed in all aspects of life,” he believes.

At the Launch Tank event Tuesday evening, young entrepreneurs will be competing for general education scholarships, startup grants, office space, and scholarship offers from area educational institutions such as Indiana Tech, the University of Saint Francis, Ivy Tech and Trine University, should the winners choose to enroll at one of those schools.

The Launch DeKalb County competition and its Launch Tank event are being sponsored and hosted by various community organizations and businesses, including Learning Link of DeKalb County, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership, DeKalb County Chamber Partnership, DeKalb County Community Foundation, County Line Church of God, and Team Quality Services.