March 20, 2015 Scale Up Milwaukee celebrated regional economic growth with a full-house graduation event of the 15 graduating ventures from the second Scalerator program. The finale featured the graduates from the first Scalerator program, as well as a plethora of VIP supporters, including Mayor Tom Barrett, Barry Mandel, David Lubar, and many others. Unlike other graduation luncheons, this one did not celebrate only the 15 companies who participated in the program; it honored all the actors in the entrepreneurship ecosystem who have positively impacted the growth of the region including large corporations, regional banks, the city, county and state governments, and the region’s universities. John Robinson of the Kauffman Foundation also attended. Many of the nearly 100 participants remarked that having such a broad spectrum of leaders from different sectors gave them a new appreciation of the roles that each played in fostering a much stronger entrepreneurship ecosystem that supports rapid growth of ventures of all sizes and ages.
