Last week, we hosted Ice House Facilitator Training here at the Foundation. We had people come from across the country and the international community to be trained in how to facilitate an entrepreneurial mindset to members of their community. I had the chance to sit down with one of the facilitators, Rob Elwood, and learn about his reason for coming to this training, and how he sees it benefiting his community in Annapolis, Md.

Q: What brought you to the Kauffman Foundation?

So here at the Kauffman Foundation I’ve been through the Ice House Facilitator Training. As a serial entrepreneur you’re always looking for what you can do next, and you believe you can do any thing. Someone coined it as the “Superman syndrome. “ But I knew that if I wanted to spread the word about this (Who Owns The Ice House book) and what I’d heard about Gary’s program that I would have to come here (to the Kauffman Foundation) to hear it in person. The book will give you ideas but it doesn’t put a structure around developing an entrepreneurial mindset. Being here at the Kauffman Foundation and hearing it live, and hearing the stories and going through the process I am now able to take something structured and bring it back with me to Annapolis where I very much plan on helping to start similar programs that have been introduced to me here.

Q: What has been your experience going through the Ice House Facilitator training?

I’ve been to the facilitator training now and I’ve had the opportunity to hear from what we’ll call the experts in the field, and I don’t think they’d proclaim themselves as experts but really just facilitators, which is the entire word that’s been ingrained in us here. The networking that as happened through this event has inspired me to take action, I mean it goes back to Chapter 3 in the book (“Action”). When I go back to Annapolis I have the tools now as well as the motivation and inspiration to take action to start a program for entrepreneurs. I don’t know what that program is going to be like yet, but I know I’m going to try it and we’ll see what happens and they’re probably be some failure along the way, but that’s how we’re going to evolve and thrive.