By Allan Maurer
Robert Albright, director of marketing and communications for the NC Council for Entrepreneurial Development, is leaving the CED to pursue an MBA at Northwestern University at the end of June. But, says Albright, “You haven’t heard the last of me, yet, that’s for sure.”
Albright is well known throughout the Southeast and in the Research Triangle region of NC in particular for his work helping the CED promote its conferences, Fast Trac, and other programs.
He tells TechJournal South that the CED reaches 8,000 people a year through 150 programs. About 80 budding entrepreneurs take its Fast Trac program. “We think of it as the on-ramp for a lot of early stage companies,” Albright says. “A lot of entrepreneurs are scientists or technologists who don’t know much about business. This exposes them to human resources, accounting, term sheets.”
Albright notes that the CED has “honed” its version of the program specifically for the tech community. While the educational benefits of the program are well known, he points out that it has also been interesting to see the connections that evolve from it.
An example, Albright cites: Affinergy’s Jonathan Gindes met Peyton Anderson, a serial entrepreneur speaking in the program, and now Anderson is CEO of the biotech company (and Gindes CFO).
Albright first came to the CED as an intern in 2000 when companies were regularly going public or making huge deals. He came back in 2003 “when things had bottomed out. It’s been interesting to see the community evolve from an uncontrolled peak to measured, steady growth.”
Working with the CED, Albright says, “has been a wonderful learning experience. I came in wide-eyed and didn’t know much about the entrepreneurial community. It’s been inspiring, seeing how they create jobs and wealth in the Triangle and how it is trying to position itself for the future.”
Albright is headed to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, where he says he wants to learn more about finance and management to add to his marketing and PR expertise. “I want to take those skills back into the nonprofit space and make a longterm impact through economic development,” he says.
A lifelong resident of North Carolina, Albright says he’ll likely come back to the state at some point, although perhaps not directly after his two-year program. “I don’t think you can beat this area as a place to work and raise a family,” he says.
Before he starts classes, he’ll run the Chicago Marathon, he says. “It’s one of the flattest races out there,” he notes. He ran the Paris, France marathon in April 2004, finishing in the middle of 30,000 runners with a 10-minute a mile time.
“This time I’d like to shave off a little time, but if I finish 39,500th out of the 40,000 runners, I’ll be happy.”
Running even adds to his ability to do his job, he says. “You have more energy, you’re more attentive, more responsive.”
Albright’s last major event is tonight (Tuesday, June 12), the CED’s annual awards party at Durham’s American Tobacco Warehouse campus.
Meanwhile, he says, he’s focused on helping his successor, Jill Weinberger, with the transition.
For more information about the CED see: www.cednc.org
Southeast Venture Conference, February 29 – March 1, 2012 at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA – Where Smart Money Meets Smart People.
www.seventure.org
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