Conference Highlights

In its third year, Greener Ventures grew by a third, from 450 in 2003 to 600 at GV2004. The conference, intended to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the Dartmouth community, focused this year on how leaders in academia, information technology, life sciences, and venture capital identify trends and seize the opportunities they present.

Three prominent speakers kicked off the April 24 event.

New Hampshire governor Craig Benson cited his business model for the state - "New Hampshire Inc." - in asserting that entrepreneurial skills apply in every sector.

Dartmouth president James Wright noted in his opening remarks that all institutions require innovation to succeed. "The need for people with entrepreneurial skill - creative, strategic, bold thinkers - is as evident today as it has ever been," Wright said.

General Electric chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt '78 delivered the keynote address on "Growing GE," a riveting forty-minute presentation of his vision of current and future trends, then hosted a pre-lunch fireside chat.

Participants had a choice of three tracks of panel discussions on issues critical to entrepreneurs. More than thirty-five experts in business and entrepreneurship, many of them Dartmouth graduates, donated their time. Law firm Devine Millimet hosted a workshop on intellectual property.

Woomera Therapeutics, competing against two other start-ups with Dartmouth connections - Artemis Woman and Dynamic Clinical Systems - won the $4,000 first prize in the GV2004 business plan competition.