Build-A-Bear Workshop founder to speak at OSU Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference

Friday, February 19, 2010

Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear Workshop  founder, chairman and “chief executive bear” will serve as a keynote speaker for the first annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference in Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center on March 30, 2010. Clark will share her entrepreneurial story behind the creation of Build-A-Bear Workshop and its success and inspire participants to live in a world of possibilities and always dream big.

The one-day WE Inspire conference will offer opportunities for women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to get inspired by successful women entrepreneurs from across the country, learn tools to help start and grow a business, discover ways to do business better and network with other women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. The event will be presented by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University.

“Our goal is to support women entrepreneurs in starting or growing businesses through role models, success stories, workshops by entrepreneurs and expertise from our entrepreneurship faculty,” said Nola Miyasaki, Riata Center executive director. “The WE Inspire conference is designed to help women find ways to do business better and to be successful in their entrepreneurial endeavors.”

In addition to Clark, the event will other feature successful women entrepreneurs from California, Washington, D.C., and other parts of the United States. Cordia Harrington, founder of the Tennessee Bun Company, which is the largest bun producer in the United States and an exclusive vendor to McDonald’s, will serve as a keynote speaker. In addition, Amy Mitchell, partner and managing member of Riata Management in Oklahoma City will serve as honorary chairperson for the conference.

The WE Inspire conference also will feature breakout sessions, which are the hallmark of similar women’s entrepreneurship conferences presented by Miyasaki and OSU School of Entrepreneurship head Michael Morris at other university communities around the country.  

“The breakout sessions will be directed by OSU’s nationally recognized and accomplished entrepreneurship faculty, as well as successful entrepreneurs and subject matter experts who will talk about business plans, guerilla marketing, sales, legal issues, financing, accounting and numerous other issues facing women entrepreneurs today,” Morris said. “It’s a day packed with learning, inspiration and networking, and we anticipate that this will lead to other opportunities to provide year-round support to women entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.”

The registration fee for the WE Inspire conference will be $35 for those who register before March 15. To register or for more information, call the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or visit www.weinspire.net. Companies interested in sponsorships or exhibit tables for the conference should call Riata Center assistant director Mary Means at 405-744-7871 or email her at mary.means@okstate.edu.