Brown Smith Wallace Principal and Consulting Group Founder selected to lead Innovate Venture Mentoring Service
ST.
LOUIS (December 18, 2013) Steve Epner, CSP, principal and founder of
the Brown Smith Wallace consulting group, has been named chairman of the
board for the non-profit organization, Innovate Venture Mentoring
Service (IVMS). The organization is an offshoot of Innovate St. Louis, a
substantial contributor to St. Louis’ growing entrepreneurial culture.
Innovate St. Louis plans to transition the IVMS organization to the
new leadership team in the early first quarter of 2014. The new
leadership team, headed by Steve Epner, will lead the organization in
becoming a free-standing, self-sustaining entity after six years of
accomplishments.
“My goal is to create a sustainable organization to continue founding
chairman Bill Peck’s vision of supporting early stage business ventures
in the region,” said Epner. “We have a lot of work to do, but are
fortunate to have a solid foundation. I very much appreciate the board’s
confidence in me.”
The new leadership team will work with IVMS’ staff and mentors to
accelerate a refresh of IVMS’s programming, operations and funding
strategy. IVMS will organize active committees comprised of the many
mentors and ventures already part of the IVMS family.
“We are pleased to have Steve lead such an innovative organization
and continue to be a part of the local entrepreneurial community,” said
Harvey Wallace, managing partner at Brown Smith Wallace. “We are always
looking for new ways to engage with startups and reaffirm our firm’s
commitment to supporting small businesses and the entrepreneurial
spirit.”
About IVMS
IVMS was founded in 2014 as an operating unit of Innovate St. Louis,
to assist early stage entrepreneurs in launching high-technology,
high-growth businesses. IVMS provides free business planning assistance
to entrepreneurs in the form of high-impact mentoring teams, comprised
of volunteers who are either experienced entrepreneurs or subject matter
experts in their fields. Over the past 6 years, IVMS has assisted over
320 client entrepreneurs, who have launched 220 ventures. To date, these
ventures have collectively achieved over a 65% survival rate (over
twice the national average), have attracted over $70 million in
investment, and have created over 800 jobs in the St. Louis region.
About Brown Smith Wallace
Brown Smith Wallace is the second-largest locally owned full-service
CPA and business advisory firm in Missouri with more than 200 employees.
The firm was nationally recognized as a “Best of the Best Firm” in
2013, by INSIDE Public Accounting and as an Accounting Today “Best
Accounting Firm to Work For” in 2013. Brown Smith Wallace is the only
accounting firm in St. Louis to receive either of these designations
this year. For more information, visit
www.bswllc.com or call
314-983-1200.
