Ashland University to Host EEC’s Entrepreneurship Immersion Week
This year’s Entrepreneurship Immersion Week, a national award winning program of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC), will be held on the Ashland University campus from Aug. 7 to 12.
“The Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC) is a unique intercollegiate competition opportunity involving nine northeast Ohio colleges and universities,” said Read Wakefield, director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Ashland University and president of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium Inc.
The Ashland University team of five students will participate with teams of five from Baldwin-Wallace College, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kent State University, Lake Erie College and University of Akron.
“Entrepreneurship Immersion Week 2011 is a week-long immersion in entrepreneurial education, skills development and regional networking resources,” Wakefield said. “During the week the teams will develop a business concept for a product or service and compete for cash prizes of up to $2,500 before a panel of distinguished judges from the northeast Ohio entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Wakefield said additional funding is available to student teams, which could allow them to actually start the business concept developed during the week. The EEC program is made possible by a lead grant from The Burton D. Morgan Foundation.
The Ashland University team that will compete will include Jerry Arko, a senior management and marketing major from Chardon, Ohio; Theresa Bradley, a junior accounting and information systems major from Loudonville, Ohio; Morgan Kanzig, a junior marketing major from Lucas, Ohio; Hallie Mast, a senior history major from Baltic, Ohio; and Lindsey VanSparrentak, a junior hospitality management major from Amherst, Ohio.
The purpose of the EEC is to provide practical "experiential" and theoretical education to students in Northeast Ohio to prepare them to become entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs; create new ventures and jobs and build wealth for the region.
Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.
