New entrepreneurial speaker series debuts at business college

KALAMAZOO—A new breakfast speaker series devoted to entrepreneurship is unfolding at Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business.

Called the Entrepreneurship Forum, the monthly series will bring stories of entrepreneurial success to the greater Kalamazoo community.

The series kicks off at 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19, in 2150 Schneider Hall with Jen Randall, president of the Kalamazoo-based firm Maestro, as the inaugural speaker. The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059. Free parking is available.

Maestro helps companies and organizations build communication, sales and training programs through analysis-driven strategies delivered through online, mobile and blended-learning technologies.

Maestro co-founder Randall is a former teacher who served as a mentor, coach and sales and training manager for Johnson and Johnson. As president, Randall works with the Maestro team to create high-impact learning products and apps for mobile learning using the latest in 3D, video and animation technologies for Maestro's Fortune 1,000 clients.

Maestro

Founded in 2007, Maestro was built to challenge the boundaries of online corporate training and business support and to set a new standard for such efforts. The company's business model is built on an analysis-driven strategy delivered through future-focused development of services in eLearning. Maestro's client list includes firms such as Facebook, Johnson and Johnson, Stryker and Dannon, among others.

Boasting a unique corporate culture where the staff's "infectious optimism" is paired with leading-edge "strategic smarts," the company's staff builds learning products that help people they may never meet face-to-face. These products provide tangible value and drive business-changing results.

The high-tech firm, which has doubled in size since its launch, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and relocated to downtown Kalamazoo. Growing 111 percent in 2011 and creating 30-plus apps in 2011 alone, most of which are proprietary, the firm was named one of 50 Companies to Watch by the Edward Lowe Foundation in 2010 and was a winner of a Main Street USA Best Small Business Award.