Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), a worldwide event launched in 2008, is coming to Fort Worth on November 14-22 with more than 50 events and counting across Tarrant County. The event’s themes for 2019 include education, inclusion, ecosystems, and global.

“Many people don’t realize that companies under five years old are responsible for the vast majority of job growth nationwide, and that remains true in Tarrant County,” Marco Johnson, GEW’s co-lead organizer and Sparkyard’s network builder, said in a statement. “If we can focus resources on supporting entrepreneurship—from launching the next big tech company to creating Main Street businesses—we have an opportunity to create much needed jobs and foster innovation that will lead to the jobs of tomorrow. GEW will help our community understand the importance and impact of entrepreneurship.”

The Fort Worth event is expected to be much larger than last year’s return, after its five-year hiatus, with 17 events and more than 1,000 attendees. This year’s individual events are organized and carried out by entrepreneurs, business owners, and business resource organizations from around Tarrant County.

Fort Worth’s 2018 GEW. [Photo: Courtesy Marco Johnson]

The week begins with an opening party at the IREB building on the UNTHSC campus along with other notable events, including the State of Entrepreneurship. The latter event is expected to feature a top economist from the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Startup Weekend runs November 15-17 at the TCC Trinity River Campus with a turbo-charged startup incubator over the course of three days. Entrepreneurs start with an idea on Friday night and work to turn it into a viable business by Sunday afternoon.

“GEW is a great way for our community to shine a light on the great work that our local entrepreneurs do each and every day to bring new innovations to market, increase the wealth of our cities and grow our economy,“ said Cameron Cushman, the director of Innovation Ecosystems at the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth. “Starting a company is one of the hardest things most people do in their entire lives and we need to make sure our community supports their success in any way we can.”

The goal of the weeklong event is to enable innovators to create jobs, spur economic growth, and improve the quality of life through startups as well as explore the entrepreneurial and startup community, including its programs and resources. The week is also an opportunity for entrepreneurs and businesses to interact and create “entrepreneurial collisions” where co-founders connect, ideas percolate, and founders find investors.

Individual event planners for Global Entrepreneurship Week Fort Worth include Accelerate DFW with a pitch competition and TechFW with a “Connect the Dots” panel exploring the personal and professional journeys taken to build global companies. 1 Million Cups will celebrate its sixth anniversary during the event.