Catapult Lakeland Inc.

“The board of directors reviews the form 990 before it is filed and designates one of its members to discuss any questions with the cpa who prepared the return.”

“We monitor any interests with our board of directors and volunteer legal counsel.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and finanical statements available to the public by having them available in the corporate office and by mail upon request.”

“The organization makes it governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public by having them available in the corporate office and by mail upon request.”

“Catapult lakeland, inc. Is a place where entrepreneurs can flourish and develop ideas that result in establishing and growing businesses in the lakeland, florida area through education and mentoring opportunities. Catapult puts creative capital to work through educational and mentoring programs that: support the professional growth of entrepreneurs, artisans and emerging leaders; help entrepreneurs build and develop sustainable and viable ventures; enable the development of visionary ideas for the lakeland community; showcase entrepreneurial successes and ideas, as well as establish a platform for social interaction.”

“Through educational and mentoring programs, catapult provides an atmosphere for education, mentoring, training and accelerating innovative ideas to help entrepreneurs learn how to build stronger, successful businesses. Catapult provides educational opportunities and resources that allow entrepreneurs to pitch and flush out ideas to catapult their businesses to the next level, as well as identify technologies or business gaps, and provide value-added solutions. Catapult is a place where ideas can be shared and problems can be solved in an entrepreneurial culture that encourages and fosters innovation for the betterment of the lakeland community.”

“Catapult puts creative capital to work through educational and mentoring programs that: support the professional growth of entrepreneurs, artisans and emerging leaders; help entrepreneurs build and develop sustainable and viable ventures; enables the development of visionary ideas for the lakeland, fl community, as well as central florida; showcase entrepreneurial successes and ideas, as well as establish a platform for social interaction. Co.starters (boot camp) is a business planning course, designed to position startups for greater sustainability in their business ventures. Co.starters is facilitated by mba's and serial entrepreneurs. Guest speakers are invited from leading marketing, design, web-development, content-sourcing, accounting and law firms in lakeland. Throughout the course, participants identify and test business assumptions through customer interactions, develop a functioning business model, learn valuable management and marketing skills, and receive constructive feedback from advisors, peers, and former grads. The relationships and connections formed within class are also very valuable to the entrepreneurs. Students from each of these educational institutions would form teams of 5 -7 individuals, with 5 to 7 teams participating in the course. Teams would be selected on the basis of functional/industry interest. During the first nine weeks of the the innovation and design course, students use co.starters to learn the ins and outs of a robust business model. During the 2nd 9 weeks, students work with mentors from the community to make their ideas come to life. The course culminates in a pitch night where students pitch their business ideas to a panel who has invested in several ideas to see them come to fruition in the community. The relationship between mentor and mentee will last 3-months. They call or meet once a month for perhaps coffee or lunch. Each meeting is approximately 60 to 90 minutes. While each mentor will have his or her own style, remember the primary goal of these meetings is to attack a specific challenge facing the mentee's business and make forward progress. Our program is open to all catapult entrepreneurs, but the best candidates are usually actively working on a startup and have a specific topic or problem where they could use help from an experienced mentor. Catapult lakeland also offers the following weekly educational programming: lunch & learns workshops - 1 hour training on a specific topic; seminars - 2 to 3-hour in-depth training on a specific topic; office hours - questions answered by a professional. More than 500 people have participated in free or low-cost educational workshops and training in 2017.”

“Teams of 5-7, with 5 to 7 teams participating in the course. Teams would be selected on the basis of functional/industry interest.”

“Launch is a community-based effort lead, and funded, by local financial institutions to catapult that is created to assist local entrepreneurs. Launch's goal is to help lakeland entrepreneurs take their business concept to the next level. Launch will do this by providing grants to entrepreneurs who can successfully pitch their concepts to launch's team. Pitch sessions - are held 2 to 3 times per year at catapult. Applications are available online at catapultlakeland.com. Advisory board members attend pitch sessions, give their input in a closed-door session following the pitches and the pitch judges will vote on grant awards. The public is invited to attend pitch sessions. It's like shark tank. But with happy people.”