Business Symposium in Detroit to Focus on Startup Advice

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With an eye on the growing number of emerging businesses in southeastern Michigan, the Detroit-based law firm Butzel Long will host a symposium in January committed to giving entrepreneurs legal tools and advice to avoid startup pitfalls and compete in today’s market.

“The new business explosion in Detroit and southeastern Michigan has been phenomenal,” says Phillip Korovesis, an attorney with the firm. “One of the primary goals of this program is to offer some real-world guidance on some common problem areas for these emerging businesses.”

Korovesis, for one, will speak at the conference about protecting a company’s most valuable assets, whether new or longstanding: trade secrets and proprietary information.

“Taking steps to preserve and protect those things — which are often the lifeblood of a startup or emerging company — are not as difficult or complicated as one might imagine,” says Korovesis, referencing a report from PwC US that notes trade secret theft in the United States accounts for up to 3 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

“If you look at 2013, that’s about $500 billion,” he says. “Preventing that type of theft is much more important today than it has been in the past.”

Other topics to be covered during the conference include social media pitfalls, building company structure and workplace practices, and advice relating to running, funding, and growing an emerging company.

“These are issues that new and growing companies see on a regular basis almost across the waterfront,” Korovesis says.

The symposium — to be held Jan. 8 at Detroit’s Madison Building,1555 Broadway St. — will also include an expert panel including Trevor Pawl, managing director of Pure Michigan Business Connect; Jonathan Hughes, CFO of Shinola; Terry Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum; and Mike Brennan, capital strategist at the Macomb-OU INCubator.

The event costs $50 per person, including breakfast and lunch, and will benefit Young Detroit Builders, an educational training program that helps qualified low-income young adults earn their GEDs while getting hands-on construction training.

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