Get ready, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Nashville! The pitch competition applications are in, and we’re a week away from kicking off the Rise of the Rest Road Tour. As we gear up for next week, we’re excited to share a brand new video, with a preview of the tour from our CEO, Steve Case:

We’re also excited to share more details on who will be joining us for some or all of the 4 day, 1,000 mile trek – including entrepreneurial luminaries Dan Gilbert and leading civic officials like Governors Rick Snyder & Bill Haslam; and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, chairwoman of the President’s Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE):

• Detroit, MI June 24: At the first stop of the tour, we’ll be joined by entrepreneurial luminary Dan Gilbert (chairman and founder of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures), Governor Rick Snyder, Mary Grove from Google for Entrepreneurs, Chris Thomas of Fontinalis Partners and Revolution’s own Tige Savage.  Our itinerary will also feature visits to companies and organizations at the heart of Detroit’s emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem including Shinola, Detroit Venture Partners, Bizdom and more.
• Pittsburgh, PA, June 25: Headliners of this stop include Luke Skurman (CEO of Niche), Rich Lunak (President & CEO of Innovation Works), Subra Suresh (President of Carnegie Mellon) and Debra Lam (Chief Innovation & Performance Officer, City of Pittsburgh).  The Rise of the Rest bus will make stops in Startup Town, Thrill Mill, AlphaLab Gear, Thread International and Carnegie Mellon University.
• Cincinnati, OH, June 26: We’re thrilled that Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will join us for the third stop on our tour, along with Cincinnati mayor John Cranley.  We’ll also be joined by Cincinnati entrepreneurial leaders Dave Knox and Rob McDonald (Brandery co-founders) and our tour of local startups will include visits to DotLoop, Roadtrippers, and the innovation hub Cintrifuse.
• Nashville, TN, June 27: We’ll close out our tour in Nashville’s thriving ecosystem, which will feature participation from Governor Bill Haslam, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Michael Burcham, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and other leaders in the Nashville community.  The day will also feature visits to Nashville startups Redpepper, Stratasan, Deavor, Zeumo and others.

And of course, UP Global CEO Mark Nager will join us along the way, as will our partners from Google for Entrepreneurs and Engine Advocacy.

Stay tuned for more information in the days to come, including the announcement of the pitch competition finalists – and in the meantime, visit riseoftherest.com for additional details!