Yvonne Cariveau
Bio
This will be my fourth year organizing Global Entrepreneurship Week events in the Mankato, MN area.
My first experiences as an entrepreneur were working for my parents companies - restaurants, canoe rental, mini-golf, motel, antiques were all part of my childhood and teenage years. I saw first hand how much work is involved and how great it is to create a company, give people jobs and do something the community needs.
I started a company in 1993 that brought Internet access to south central Minnesota. We grew to 25 employees and served seven counties before selling in 2001. We started a web site development business that we sold in 2017.
I currently am the Director for the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Minnesota State University, Mankato's College of Business and an Assistant Professor in the Management Dept. I mentor student entrepreneurs from across the university to help them research and launch businesses. We also run entrepreneurship education events and assist students with venture competitions.
1 Million Cups Mankato was founded in Nov, 2017 by myself and a group of organizers in our community. We have had terrific success using that as a regular point of connection for entrepreneurs and those that serve and support them.