As Virginia's startup and small business community attempts to bounce back after Covid-19, Todd Feldman, founder of The Rocket Factory, felt an obligation to help companies get back on their feet.
To help boost the state's entrepreneurs, he created SparkJam, a virtual event and collaboration between Feldman and Dr. Garret Westlake, executive director at Virginia Commonwealth University, as well as Activation Capital, Elevation and Profit Optics. Its purpose is to hear directly from Virginia's small business community about the problems they're facing in trying to reopen amid the ongoing pandemic.
Tickets for the June 26 event went on sale Monday and are $10 each. Feldman said all ticket sale proceeds and monetary contributions will be donated to the VA30-Day Fund, which provides $3,000 forgivable loans to startups and small businesses throughout Virginia.
"We are looking to unite our entrepreneurial ecosystem with our small business community across the state and to raise the funds that go straight to small businesses," he said.
Feldman said he believed the government did a "well-intentioned" job at getting money into the hands of Virginia's small businesses, but the the need remains vast. According to a study from the National Governors Association there is a $149 billion credit gap nationwide, and a $2.8 billion credit gap in Virginia. With SparkJam, Feldman is looking to close that gap.
Business owners and startup founders have until Monday to submit emails or videos explaining the challenges they've faced over the last three months. During the event, a host of Virginia's entrepreneurs, innovators and community leaders will collaborate to help find solutions to those business challenges.
"We can’t solve all the problems, but can our small business and startup community walk away with a new structure of how to think? Can we give them tools and knowledge?" he said. "I’m hopeful that’s a potential takeaway of the day. I hope sharing knowledge would be helpful to those businesses all around our state."
Additionally, students from Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Norfolk State and William & Mary and Virginia Tech will also have the opportunity to see the videos and present ideas and solutions. Feldman said the top one or two concepts will come to market.
"The goal there is to continue to follow the progress of the students through to some conclusion," he said. "It's the heads, hands and hearts of our students within Virginia universities trying to do some good."
