Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, a new support network financed by the private equity giant, has named Robert Creeden to be its first executive director.

Creeden is founder and managing partner of Boston-based Partners Innovation Fund. 

The Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network was announced in April.

It is a partnership between the company and the Triangle's four major universities -- Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- as well as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

Financed with $3.6 million from Blackstone's charitable foundation, it is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the support they need to turn their ideas into fast-growing companies.

The Blackstone Group's charitable foundation announced this morning that it is committing $3.6 million to create an entrepreneur network in the Triangle.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO and co-founder of private equity firm, formally announce the five-year initiative at an event in Durham's American Tobacco Campus.

The company hopes the network will become a model for other regions.

The money will be used to create an entrepreneurial support network similar to ones that already exist in Silicon Valley and the Boston area.

Partners in the project include Duke University, N.C. Central, N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill.

President Barack Obama's Startup America 2011 tour will kick off in Research Triangle Park tomorrow.

The commander-in-chief won't make an appearance, but he will send administration officials such as Ronnie Chatterji of the Council of Economic Advisers and Esther Vassar of the Small Business Administration.

As part of the initiative announced in January, administration officials plan to visit eight cities to hear from small business owners and entrepreneurs about regulations, lending, hiring and more.

One goal is to identify burdensome regulations and other barriers that curb entrepreneurs' efforts to expand startup companies. The main mission is to generate more activity among entrepreneurs and small businesses that will create new jobs and bolster the slowly reviving economy.

Ping Fu continues to reinforce her role as the local entrepreneur who has become a go-to small business resource for the Obama Administration.

The CEO and founder of Geomagic, a 3-D software company based in Research Triangle Park, was among the speakers in Washington today who helped kick off Obama's campaign to increase investment in start-up companies. The appearance follows several visits to Washington last year, including as Michelle Obama's guest at the State of the Union.

The "Startup America" effort involves using $2 billion from the Small Business Administration, with matching funds from private foundations and big technology companies such as IBM and Intel, to provide seed and early-stage investments in firms with high-growth potential.

Fu is a passionate advocate for small businesses and women-led firms in particular. She got a call from White House officials on Saturday night, asking her to be in Washington by this morning and didn't hesitate.

"It's important for entrepreneurs to have a voice in the capital," Fu said. "This is a starting point, but this administration really seems to get it."

Two celebrities on the business-speaker circuit will visit the Triangle next week to offer advice to entrepreneurs on how to build a business in a tough economy.

On Tuesday morning, Warren Brown, former host of "Sugar Rush" on Food Network and founder of the CakeLove chain of bakeries, will speak at N.C. State's McKimmon Conference center in Raleigh on "Are you ready for the rebound?"

It's free, but registration is required. To reserve a seat or for more information, click here.

On Thursday morning, dot-com billionaire and outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team Mark Cuban will speak at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. That one costs $50 but includes lunch. Register here.

A panel discussion on entrepreneurship and venture capital also will include local executives Aaron Houghton, chairman and co-founder of Durham's iContact; Rich Lee, CEO of Hosted Solutions; and Mitch Mumma, general partner at Intersouth Partners.

Two business incubators and a nonprofit that helps foster entrepreneurs and startup companies plan to set up shop in downtown Durham's American Tobacco Campus.

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development will join LaunchBox Digital and Joystick Labs at the campus. The additions are aimed at turning the successful commercial development project into a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity.

The three organizations will be tenants in the newly named American Underground, a 26,000 square-foot space in the lower levels of American Tobacco's Strickland and Crowe Buildings.

The three groups will take about a third of the American Underground space. American Tobacco will seek to lease the rest at about $19.95 per square foot. That's below the square-foot price of $25.95 that the campus is seeking for 88,000 square feet that GlaxoSmithKline said it will vacate next May.

Ping Fu, the CEO of Geomagic, must have really impressed President Barack Obama.

Fu, who earlier this year was invited to Obama's State of the Union address, has now been appointed to the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

She'll be joined by another Tar Heel, Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Triangle executives dominated an awards ceremony for Carolinas' entrepreneurs in Charlotte on Thursday night.

Of the nine winners, six were CEOs of fast-growing companies based in this area. The annual Ernst & Young awards give corporate leaders bragging rights with their peers, but also can help their companies attract customers and investors.

The local winners included Jud Bowman, CEO of Durham's PocketGear; Leah Brown, CEO of Cary's A10 Clinical Solutions; Craig Collard, CEO of Cary's Cornerstone Therapeutics; Lawrence Stern, CEO of Research Triangle Park's Talecris Biotherapeutics; Chuck Swoboda, CEO of Durham's Cree; and Stephen Wiehe of Cary's SciQuest.

The last time, Jud Bowman went solo.

In 2001, when Ernst & Young first nominated Bowman as an entrepreneur of the year, the then-20-year-old traveled alone to Charlotte for the awards ceremony, figuring he wouldn't win. He did.

This week, when he returns to Charlotte as a finalist again, he'll bring his mother, girlfriend, and several board members and employees from the technology company he now runs, Durham-based PocketGear.

"We're thinking of renting a bus and all driving over together," Bowman said. "Even if I don't win, it's a great excuse to put on tuxes, drink some champagne and celebrate."

The annual Ernst & Young awards, now in their 24th year, have become prestigious recognition for the state's entrepreneurs. A caravan of other Triangle business leaders who are finalists also plan to make the trip to Charlotte. Most will bring spouses, children, employees, investors or friends as they bask in the limelight on Thursday night.

Grace Ueng's passion, energy and inspiring recovery from a horrible bike accident five years ago are getting some national attention.

Inc. magazine included a two-page "CEO Passions" profile on Ueng in its latest issue, including a photo of her cycling with her former triathlon coach.

Ueng is head of a Cary-based consulting firm, Savvy Marketing Group, and works with numerous Triangle corporations and organizations. She also occasionally writes about marketing, CEO athletes and entrepreneurs for our Sunday Work&Money section.

Her bike accident in California broke her neck and led to months of therapy and a long road to recovery. That journey also was featured in a April 2006 Work&Money story.  

"The bike represents a comeback to me," she told Inc. "The ripple effect of my accident has been a revived passion for life."

Read the Inc. story here.

Ueng also recently started a blog about issues that small, fast-growing companies face. Here more here.