NMU May Grad Joins SmartZone Staff

Cat Stenberg

Innovate Marquette SmartZone has expanded its project management team with the hire of new Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator Catherine “Cat” Stenberg. She graduated from Northern Michigan University in May with a degree in marketing and considers herself an Upper Peninsula transplant.

During her studies, Stenberg also gained experience in media management for a local doctor's office, supported operations of a local yoga studio and explored facilitating yoga retreats in the area.

With a strong interest in entrepreneurship and business, Stenberg joined Invent@NMU, a program of NMU's that the Marquette SmartZone manages, as a student project manager in March of 2019. Her responsibilities included client idea/business intake, organizing ideas into recognizable goals, and delegating services and support from the team of students and professionals for clients.

“My experiences have brought me an awareness of the drive, passion and work ethics of those willing to take the risk to launch a product or start their own business," she said. "I'm most excited within this new position to support our team and clients as they succeed in their goals of product or business development, which drives real local economic growth and supports our community through true grassroots economics, which I think is the real American Dream.”

In her role at the Marquette SmartZone, Stenberg will focus the majority of her efforts on supporting both the student team and clients of Invent@NMU and the SmartZone as they look to start and grow while also support the capabilities of the entrepreneurial eco-system  in Marquette and beyond.

“We are fortunate to be able to bring Cat on as our new Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator in support of our clients and their efforts to bring new products to market and launch new businesses," said Marketing Manager Nicole Johnson. "Her work ethic and contributions over the past year as a student employee have demonstrated to us that she has the required skills and passion to make an impact in support of our clients and our organization's mission. We knew very early on that Cat would continue be an asset to our team and our economic development efforts in our community. We are very glad to have her join our team.”

Stenberg officially joined the Innovate Marquette SmartZone team on May 4th. For more information, visit www.innovatemarquette.org.

Prepared By

Kristi Evans
News Director
9062271015

Categories: Alumni, Around NMU