New Entrepreneur in Residence Program Designed to Help Arlington Startups

Arlington Economic Development on Tuesday announced a new Entrepreneur in Residence program to help advise, inform and grow the county's burgeoning startup community.

Each Entrepreneur in Residence will serve for six months to one year, counseling and advising other area startups in exchange for office space at Arlington Economic Development.

The first Entrepreneurs in Residence will be Will Fuentes and Cary Scott, co-founders of the Arlington-based tech startup Lemur Retail. The pair will hold regular office hours to meet with budding entrepreneurs and fast-growth startups in an effort to share ideas and best practices, according to a news release. They will also host quarterly workshops.

“We’ve learned. We’ve made the mistakes, and we’re looking now to share that with other exciting startup companies,” Fuentes said in a statement. 

The two hope to help with non-traditional questions, from pitching to venture capitalists to using social media, Scott said in a statement.

The Entrepreneur in Residence program is designed to compliment Arlington Economic Development's BizLaunch small business assistance network, which helps up to 4,000 young companies each year, the news release states.

"Having entrepreneurs on hand who’ve faced the same issues and succeeded to guide business leaders of tomorrow is just the type of program that has helped Arlington gain its reputation as the place for startups to succeed," Jennifer Ives, director of business investment at Arlington Economic Development, said in a statement.

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