INVESTOR AND SEASONED EMERGING BUSINESS EXPERT
SELECTED TO KEYNOTE ACE 13 FORUM FOR ENTREPRENEURS

“The Entrepreneurial Soul of America: Comparisons of Silicon Valley and Michigan”
To Be Discussed by Terry Cross, Longtime Leader of Entrepreneurial Economies
in New York, California and Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MI  October 24 –  ACE 13, the 13th annual forum for entrepreneurs and emerging company leaders and investors, announced its keynote speaker will be a widely known investor and corporate officer and director with roots on the East Coast, West Coast, Europe and for the past 25 years, Michigan.

He is Terry Cross, founder of Windward Associates of Rochester Hills and a longtime leader in the investment communities in Silicon Valley and New York City.  He will discuss “Returning to Michigan, The Entrepreneurial Soul of America: The Important Comparisons between Silicon Valley and Michigan.”

ACE is Michigan’s leading entrepreneurial educational and networking forum and is run by a team of technology business, civic, educational and community leaders from across the state.  ACE annually has a series of experienced panelists who are leading existing business and provide their ideas and guidance to new and emerging companies.

ACE annually draws 1,000 to 1,400 guests to the seven-hour event.  This year for the first time, ACE will take place at Burton Manor in Livonia January 31 from 2 to 9 pm.  It has been held at Washtenaw Community College and Skyline High in Arbor for the past several years. 

Cross’s principal speech is slated at about 6 pm after a series of educational panel sessions to cover investment, business development, sales, marketing, human resources and other disciplines tied to starting and developing entrepreneurial and emerging businesses.

 “I will draw on my experiences over many years of serving as an investor and director of many high tech businesses in Michigan and Silicon Valley, and an active participant for many years in

similar forums on both coasts,” said Cross.  “I know Michigan’s entrepreneurial people today are especially interested in finding and engaging investors as well as learning through stories of other firms how to sell, market, hire and retain top people, defining their product to meet existing and developing market needs,” he explained.

Founder of Windward Associates, LLC, Cross has been an Angel investor and businessman for over 50 years. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Great Lakes Angels and a founding member of The Michigan Venture Capital Association. While he has served on many boards over the years, his current board memberships include: Monarch Antenna, a Delphi Corp. spinout, NextGen Metabolomics, RetroSense, NextCat, InfoReady, RazorThreat, Ardent Cause, Productive Resarch, Fusion Coolant Systems, and Joshi Biochemicals. Cross served as the first Executive in Residence for Entrepreneurship at The School of Business Administration at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he administered the prestigious Adams Entrepreneurial Fellowship and received the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award. He currently manages The Adams Fellowship for The Community Funds of Southeast Michigan through The Automation Alley Foundation. 

Cross was a co-founder of Sonoma Photonics, which recently sold to Northrop Grumman. He was a founding investor in three startups from MIT’s tech transfer department and served on the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity. In September of 2007, he was named to the Task Force for A World Financial Center by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, one of Korea’s most prestigious institutions. He was employed by Kidder, Peabody in various financial services and investment banking activities in Detroit, New York and San Francisco for 28 years and then moved back to Michigan to become involved with the state’s rejuvenation and renewal focus.  For more information and registration go to www.ace-event.org.

Contact:  Larry Eiler
Eiler Communications
734-761-3399
Cell 734-646-6593
larry@eilerpr.com

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/10/11/ace-13-moves-to-bigger-venue-new-county/