Universities are supposed to be bastions of bright ideas. Now, UNLV is hoping to help turn them into viable ventures.
The universitywide, multi-disciplinary Entrepreneurship Center (E-Center), recently approved by the Board of Regents, supports academic programs and also has the potential of being a resource for the business community. Housed in the College of Business, it will offer an undergraduate major in entrepreneurship. It will provide students and community members training in the basic stills necessary to bring an idea to market. The center will also assist in bringing together venture capital and campus innovation.
“We are extremely gratified that the Board of Regents supports our vision for entrepreneurship education and research,” said Richard Flaherty, dean of the College of Business. “The new center will allow us to better coordinate and facilitate existing and planned entrepreneurship initiatives within the college, across the campus and the higher education system, and with external constituencies.”
Flaherty and other organizers believe the E-Center will appeal to the business leaders in the Las Vegas community. They hope the center becomes a catalyst for promoting economic diversification and growth in the Las Vegas Valley and across the state. The goal is to be recognized as a strong resource by the business community and as a visible and respected facilitator of outstanding academic programs.
Management professor Janet Runge has been appointed as the interim director of the center. “I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity we have to make entrepreneurship a part of the campuswide vocabulary. The incredible outpouring of interest and support just reinforces that now is the right time to build this center. I think it’s a powerful testament to UNLV’s commitment to ‘Invent the Future,’” she says, referring the university’s fundraising campaign.
