River District Association logo. Courtesy of RDA.

The River District Association in Danville has announced the start of a new quarterly program called Start-Up Slam to support both new and existng businesses in downtown.

The first Start-Up Slam will be held at 6 p.m. June 2 at The Lazy Bee (616 N. Main St.) in the North Main Business District to bring together everyone in the community who wants to share and exchange new business ideas – products or services – and be rewarded on the spot.

Anyone in the community is invited to attend (reservation required, limit 100 people). For $10 per person (cash only at the door), you can join other members of the community to share a meal – and business ideas.

Up to 15 partcipants at the event are welcome to share their ideas with the crowd (3-minute limit), and attendees will be able to vote on their favorite at the end of the evening. The top vote-gettr takes home all the cash collected at the door – no strings attached. No business plans are required.

“We want to make sure we have the tools in place to ‘grow our own’ business owners from inside our community” said Diana Schwartz, executive director of the River District Association, in a statement, “and giving people an incentive to spend time thinking of – and sharing – good ideas will help people latch on to something that could one day turn into a very successful business. But the purpose of the event is to connect community and give people real resources to see first-hand that they can create change in their lives right here in Danville.”

The program is funded by a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development. To reserve a seat, call the RDA office at 434-791-0210 or email alyssa@riverdistrictassociation.com. When registering, indicate whether you plan on watching the event or if you plan to share your idea for a new business, product or
service.

Poster for the Start-Up Slam. Courtesy of RDA.