For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.

December 15, 1997

NEW WRIGHT STATE PROGRAM TO TRAIN
AND ASSIST ENTREPRENEURS


In recent years thousands of start-up companies and entrepreneurial ventures have entered the economy. Most job creation comes from the small, private business sector. Though self-employment is a viable career alternative for many people today, they need relevant education and training to be successful.

Wright State University plans to provide that education for the ever-increasing number of entrepreneurs starting and growing their own businesses. The university has received a grant of nearly $25,000 from the Coleman Foundation to establish a Center for Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research, beginning in 1998.

"The major focus (of the center) will be educational," said Robert Premus, Ph.D., chair and professor of economics at Wright State. The center hopes to provide new course offerings in entrepreneurship that could lead to a major, minor, or concentration in the area. How entrepreneurship would best fit into the curriculum is still being determined. Premus also hopes to structure the program to work closely with the business community.

"We envision the focus of our entrepreneurship to be on the relationship of technology and business and innovation," Premus says. "We see a direct link to high-tech companies . . . especially the companies out there that are the more entrepreneurial, dynamic types. We'll be looking for projects with companies to help commercialize their technologies."

Entrepreneurs may serve as guest lecturers in classes, and Wright State students could have the opportunity to serve internships. Companies may need engineering or other assistance, and Premus says, "We see our students being very much a central part of that kind of research."

An integrated curriculum is important for an education in entrepreneurship, Premus believes. "You have to break down the walls between accounting and finance and economics and marketing." He also foresees that many students with majors other than business will be interested in an entrepreneurship program.

The Coleman Foundation, based in Chicago, was founded in 1951 by Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Stetson Coleman. The Colemans were entrepreneurs and owned Fannie May Candies. After their deaths, the Foundation directors furthered the original mission through selected programs including entrepreneurship awareness and education. Since 1981, the Foundation has committed over $20 million to advance their "self-sufficiency through self-employment" concept.

Thanks to the Coleman Foundation's start-up grant, Wright State will be able to find other avenues for its part in regional economic development, which is offering educational degrees.

"We're filling in a big missing gap out there in our community," Premus says. "And that is a strong academic focus on entrepreneurship." The education of entrepreneurs is a big market, "but one that universities traditionally haven't tapped."

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