On Feb. 19, 2015, David Fonseca, Incubator Manager at the Innovation Center, presented at the La Idea Closing Event, an event held by TECH Fort Worth. During the event Fonseca outlined highlights of the La Idea program.
The first two weeks of February marked the beginning of the La Idea program—a program that was facilitated by the Innovation Center, through a strategic partnership with Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) and Rapid Response. In addition to the Innovation Center, only two other incubators were chosen to host La Idea; one of those incubators was the one at TECH Fort Worth.
“Some of the industries that [the participants] represented include: the food industry, agribusiness, manufacturing, technology and education among others,” stated Fonseca during his presentation. “Some of the companies range from having 30 employees to having 140 and above, and some have been in business over 50 years.”
Ambassador David Thorne, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State, Mayor Betsy Price and the local consulates of the countries involved and the participants attended the event.
Just some of the statistics that Fonseca highlighted during his talk are as follows:
- 26 sessions
- 56 hours in advance manufacturing best practices
- 24 hours on how to do business in the USA
- More than 6 news stories in regional media
- 4 participants expressed interest in joining the Soft-Landing program
- 1 participant was interested in replicating the Innovation Center’s model in other countries in South America
According to the article titled “The United States and Pacific Alliance Advance Cooperation on Entrepreneurship” on the U.S. Department of State website, “The program offers entrepreneurs in the Pacific Alliance special access to the U.S. network of business incubators to facilitate mutual investment opportunities and to support the Alliance’s visionary efforts to build the next generation of innovative, globally competitive companies.”