Center for Entrepreneurship and Market Capitalism
Center Helps Fulfill University's Mission of Entrepreneurship, Self-Reliance and Value Creation
Bellevue University introduced its new Center for Entrepreneurship and Market Capitalism on May 17, 2012. The Center embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the University and will be a catalyst for economic growth balancing personal liberty and initiative, civic responsibility, and market-based business solutions to foster entrepreneurs, leaders, and successful businesses. The Center, in concert with established entrepreneurial support programs and leaders, will serve entrepreneurs from the greater metropolitan area and beyond.
"The University is taking a more practical approach, supporting entrepreneurship with direct intervention, using our full range of University and networked resources to develop entrepreneurs and their enterprises," said Dr. Mary B. Hawkins, president of Bellevue University.
The Center will provide:
- Entrepreneurship Bootcamp: an education in entrepreneurial and business connections within a network of agencies, organizations, financiers and like-minded entrepreneurs
- Mentoring of entrepreneurs and development of their enterprises
- Connections to capital and networking opportunities for direct investment
- Thought leadership in capitalism and practice-based education
- Model center for higher education where the university is a laboratory for developing successful entrepreneurial ventures
- Environment that fosters responsible market capitalism and effective business development and growth techniques
"Our University was founded by entrepreneurs and that entrepreneurial spirit has always been a part of our culture," said Dr. Rod Hewlett, Dean of the Bellevue University College of Business. "The Center will benefit from expertise across all of the University's colleges, the entrepreneurship community and University board members. The primary goal is to harmonize the knowledge of entrepreneurs with the ideas of those looking to the Center for guidance. Ultimately the community benefits when you consider U.S. Department of Labor statistics from the last 20 years that indicate over 60 percent of the net new jobs in the United States have been generated by small or new businesses."
The Center is located on the University's main campus in Bellevue, NE. It would serve entrepreneurs at various stages of development, including business startups, existing businesses seeking growth and those struggling to craft value around a new product.
