Antonella Solomon and Roger Williams met as students at
Bizdom U, the entrepreneurial boot camp founded by Dan Gilbert. Combining her insurance background with his educational one, the team created
Launch Learning Group LLC, a business that provides interactive training courses for individuals looking to become licensed insurance agents. The company, located in
TechTown's TechOne, will debut its first 40-hour course on March 15.
If building a business around adults passing a singular industry's licensing exam sounds like Solomon and Williams are thinking small, the realities of the insurance industry beg to differ. The fact of the matter is that Michigan has insurance jobs to fill and that many adults looking for a career in the industry have trouble getting passing the licensing exam -- up to half fail on their first try. Launch's courses are designed to work for all types of learners and for people who might have not had a test to take in years or even decades.
Launch is targeting students through job search sites as well as through insurance companies directly, many of whom are forced to hire employees prior to becoming licensed and are thus interested in them passing the exam quickly. This relationship will also help Launch place students with those companies that have unfilled positions.
Locating in TechOne made sense for may reasons. Solomon calls it a "brain hub" where ideas get bounced around and "outside eyes can pick out issues." Plus, Bizdom U's relationship with foundations helped them keep start-up costs low.
Courses will be held in Detroit, Farmington Hills and Livonia and range from $180 for 20 hours to $275 for 40. Register on-line at
www.launchlg.com or call 313-202-6700 for more information.
Sources: Antonella Solomon and Roger Williams, Launch Learning Group
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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