Whether starting a new business or breathing life into an old one, staying competitive, getting to the next level, demands innovation.  Innovation means being the first, rethinking convention and inventing a new way of doing business.  It requires leaders to strive for more, change and recreate to gain market share, build new lines of business, improve processes, or stoke passion in an otherwise mediocre world.  Now more than ever, innovation is touted by business consultants and industry leaders as the silver bullet, the cure, for a downed economy, slow quarter or decreasing product line. But, how does a business innovate?

It's not like you can just flip on a switch. In this seminar, attendees will learn from real-world experiences of entrepreneurs and "intrepreneurs" who have defined what innovation means to their organization and made it a reality.  Keynote speaker, Intel’s Wilfred Pinfold, will outline practical steps for fostering innovation in a new or established business. He will also provide a guide to defining and creating innovation, including:

• Identifying common pitfalls
• Examining how strategy changes based on the business’s size and stage
  

• Developing an innovative culture that can grow ideas into profitable business     revenue

Dr. Pinfold is the Director of Extreme Scale Programs at Intel and leads Intel’s Government Programs office specializing in technology innovation.  Pinfold also helped co-develop Portland State University’s innovation program and currently teaches in the university’s MBA program.
 
Dr. Pinfold will be joined by a dynamic panel of Central Oregon business leaders who will share their experiences as living case studies succeeding locally.