As we prepare for the second First Look Forum competition to be held in Bellingham this November, we have been reflecting on the impact of Bellingham’s inaugural First Look Forum last fall.  It also marked the first time FLF was held outside of Seattle.

When WTIA acquired FLF from Northwest Entrepreneurs’ Network (NWEN) in spring 2014, we wanted to expand the program state as part of our mission to serve the entire state. We chose Bellingham to engage entrepreneurs from northwest counties and British Columbia. First Look Forum is designed for entrepreneurs who have never presented their business ideas to an investor or venture capital group.  They undergo intense coaching over three weeks before they present five-minute pitches to audiences including investors, coaches, sponsors and media.

Michael Schutzler, the CEO of WTIA, said, “Our first FLF in Bellingham was a watershed moment for the WTIA. For the past decade, we have largely conducted our events in Seattle. Our goal is to create programs that are meaningful across the entire state. Thanks to the great partners in Bellingham including the Mayor’s office, the Port of Bellingham, and the Northwest Innovation Resource Center – our first FLF was successful and we have been invited back for a second year. “

Diane Kamionka, interim Executive Director at NW Innovation Resource Center, which is WTIA’s FLF event partner in Bellingham, said, “The result is very positive, we got very good applicant turnout. It was the first year that the Forum accepted applicants from the Lower Mainland . To those people who weren’t familiar with First Look Forum, we had activities to help them to understand FLF and we received positive comments and emails from participants. They thought it was extremely well done.”

Bellingham Angel Investors (BAI) is another FLF community partner.  Steve Alamin, the Screening Committee Member of BAI, said: “The Bellingham area is a thriving community of problem-solvers and to a certain extent, risk takers willing to commit to an idea to see their vision come to life. I suggest the “change” since last year’s FLF, is the awareness, adoption, and collaboration of the resources available to start-ups.  The entrepreneurial community in greater numbers is taking advantage of local resources like FLF, pitch fests, maker space, co-working space, 3-d printed metal rapid prototypes, incubators as well as non-profits focused on free coaching and/or mentoring for start-ups.”

Alamin added, “FLF provides a proven process, structure and support for qualified start-ups to understand and prepare their businesses for growth and capital.  Investors appreciate presenting companies are better prepared.”

Building on last year’s momentum, this year’s FLF will see several improvements. The application will be accepted statewide, but special emphasis will still be focused on the five northwest counties including the Lower Mainland. However, the size of participants, coaches, sponsors and audiences will all be expanded both numerically and qualitatively. There will be four judges, one selected from each northwest county. The Counties of Skagit and Snohomish will also actively promote the event this year. This allows the FLF event on November 12th, 2015 to reach an ever wider audience around Washington State.

Kamionka said, “We have bigger expectations this year in terms of participation, including increasing participation in all roles from all other counties in addition to to the Bellingham area. The wider range of applicants will represent the innovation present in the northwest part of our State.”

This is part of WTIA’s longer-term vision to expand FLF to other parts of the state. Schutzler said, “Our goal is to run a strong program that serves entrepreneurs in Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties. Once we have that successfully running, we hope to expand to other areas like Spokane, Vancouver and Tacoma.”