FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2007
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124

Betcher completes FastTrac TechVenture certification class
  
COLUMBUS, MISS. – Lucy Betcher, director of the Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship at Mississippi University for Women, recently completed the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation FastTrac TechVenture facilitator and marketing administrator certification class for organizations that support innovation-based entrepreneurship and business development in Mississippi.
   
The Mississippi Technology Alliance, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, hosted the training for 39 participants representing Small Business Development Centers, community colleges, university commercialization offices and business incubators in Jackson. Master facilitators from the national FastTrac organization traveled to Mississippi to deliver the three-day course.
   
Participants in FastTrac TechVenture certification training completed all requirements for facilitator and marketing administrator certification and are now qualified to provide the popular Kauffman program for technology entrepreneurs in service areas throughout Mississippi on an ongoing basis. In addition to gaining valuable entrepreneur training capacity, the resulting network of entrepreneurial support organizations will be essential to support the growth of technology-based businesses in Mississippi.
   
For more information about FastTrac TechVenture in Mississippi, visit www.technologyalliance.ms.