The Legalities of Starting Your Own Business

Denise Herd is the founder and president of Herd Strategies, a full-service public relations firm, headquartered in downtown, Indianapolis. Outside of the business, Denise is a highly sought-after public speaker and workshop facilitator. She is passionate about developing businesses and is a certified facilitator of the Kauffman Foundation FastTrac New Venture and Walker’s Legacy Prospectus programs guiding startup entrepreneurs through all phases of business ownership. She currently serves on the board of directors of Local Initiatives Support Organization (LISC) the Allen University foundation and Summit Indianapolis, a feminist theatre in Indianapolis, and chair of the Indianapolis Chamber Women’s Business Advisory Council. She is a graduate of the Stanley K. Lacey Executive Leadership Series, and an adjunct professor with the IUPUI Department of Journalism.

As an insurance professional since 1985, Norma began her insurance career as a commercial underwriter for The Hartford Insurance Company. Specializing in all sizes of accounts and associations, she also held positions of supervision and management there for 15 years. For the next 5 years, she took a position as a territorial manager at Travelers Insurance with the state of Indiana as her territory. Norma is currently a producer for McGowan Insurance Group, enjoying over 15years of service as a Commercial Insurance Account Executive.

Richard has been practicing law for 30years. His past positions include serving as general counsel for the Indiana Department of Commerce, Pro Tem Judge in the Marion County Superior Courts, attorney at TaftLaw Firm, and legislative director for former Indiana Governor Joseph Kernan. He currently practices at the law officeofR.L. Rowley & Associates, LLC, where he focuses primarily on business-related matters, Wills& Trusts, and state legislative matters.

Richard’s past recognitions and community involvement include receipt of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash award, membership in the 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, Inc., and board member of the Roche Free Medical Clinic, Inc.

Rosemary serves as Global Trademark Counsel managing the Cummins global trademark portfolio and is responsible for providing support on marketing, copyright, and branding issues, providing IP support for Power Systems Business Unit, assisting on the legal commercial transactions team(most commonly on negotiation and drafting of development agreements, supply agreements, licenses, confidentiality agreements, and occasionally M&A projects), and serving as legal counsel to Cummins Electronics and Fuel Systems. Rose particularly enjoys facilitating complex transactions by guiding and navigating the intellectual property aspect of such transactions. Rose has a passion for innovation and cutting-edge technologies and loves to learn how things work.

Prior to joining Cummins, Rose was a Federal employee for sixteen (16) years at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where she established an Intellectual Property Law Practice Group within the Office of the General Counsel, the primary client of which was DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, responsible for research and development and innovations for DHS.