Center opens, helps student entrepreneurs
The Huntsman School of Business recently opened a new center designed to offer all the resources a USU student would need to start a company.
University officials cut the ribbon for the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence on Jan. 25. The Huntsman School commemorated the opening with several events throughout the week, including speeches from successful entrepreneurs.
Michael Glauser, executive director of entrepreneurial programs, said during the ribbon cutting that the center’s services will be available to any student with an interest in starting a business. The new center will help students turn good ideas into realistic business models, Glauser said.
“This center is available for all students in all colleges in all departments across all of our campuses,” Glauser said. “This is not exclusive to students in the Huntsman School of Business.”
Participation from students outside the business college are welcome and would likely help ventures succeed, Glauser said.
“There’s a great deal of evidence that shows that on a start-up team, the more diverse the team members, the more likely that venture will be a success,” Glauser said.
Glauser said the university will enlist help from individuals and organizations across the state to provide branding services, graphic design, legal services, web design and funding for student entrepreneurs. Angel investors, venture capitalists and private equity groups will be arranged to help students start companies, he said.
One of the most important services available to students, Glauser said, is a group of mentors from the Founders Board, a group of successful entrepreneurs. His goal was to increase the number of members on the Founders Board to 100 people, he said. USU head football coach Gary Anderson serves as the chairman of the board.
Speakers at the event included USU President Stan Albrecht, Huntsman School of Business Dean Doug Anderson, David Bradford, director of the Utah IT/Software Cluster and Innovation, and James Davis, director of the Huntsman School management department.
Bradford said entrepreneurship takes more than an understanding of technology, math or business, and along with facilitating that understanding, the new center will support Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s aim to create more jobs.
“It’s about risk taking,” Bradford said, “and it’s about passion.”
Glauser and Davis joined the Huntsman School faculty in fall 2011. Before coming to USU, Davis worked as the head of the University of Notre Dame’s Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
Glauser founded Golden Swirl Management Company and Northern Lights and later sold the companies to Cool Brands, Int.
Glauser and Davis presented the idea for the entrepreneurial center to the USU Board of Trustees in fall 2011. Glauser said the idea was proposed as a way to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world experience.
Other Utah schools, including Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Weber State University, Utah Valley University and Westminster, already have entrepreneurial programs, he said.
The creation of the center will improve the USU brand and make the university more competitive statewide and nationwide, Glauser said.
– steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu