The Oregon Entrepreneur Network (OEN) has announced a new group that has sprouted out of its fledgling Eugene chapter: Smart-ups.
Smart-ups is a new entrepreneurial support group in the Eugene/Springfield area. We’re a local chapter of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) based in Portland, OR.
The new group will take charge of hosting a series of Pub Talks similar to those the OEN holds in the Portland area on a regular basis.
Caroline Cummings, CEO of OsoEco—whom you may remember from this year’s Angel Oregon—started the Smart-ups group. She talked to Eugene’s The Register-Guard about the inspiration behind the group.
“We know there are entrepreneurs in this community,” Cummings said. “What happens is they end up starting up their own little Yahoo groups, or they meet at coffeehouses, and they don’t realize there’s a lot of support out there, like the chamber, like the university. That’s what Smart-ups is all about — pulling all of these groups together.”
Sounds like a common problem. It will be interesting to see how Eugene goes about solving it. And I’ll be sure to keep track of what they’re doing.
For more information, see Smart-ups.