Dallas-Hamilton Center Featured at Global Conference

Bowling Green State University’s College of Business and the Dallas-Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership will take center stage at the world’s largest annual gathering of university-based entrepreneurship centers.  A presentation proposal by the Dallas-Hamilton Center was one of the few selected to be a part of the Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) international conference to be held in London, October 2-4.

Kirk D. Kern, Director of the Dallas-Hamilton Center and BGSU professor, Dr. Gene Poor, Hamilton Professor of Entrepreneurship, will present “Resurrecting a Dormant Entrepreneurial Center” and provide an engaging case study about how a dormant entrepreneurial center turned into a vibrant hub for students and alumni in just two years.  The pair of entrepreneurship experts will discuss transforming the culture by engaging students, alumni, faculty, staff, and business leaders and how incorporating co-curricular activities into the entrepreneurial ecosystem builds a center’s value.  

GCEC was founded in 1996 to provide an organization where participating members can collaborate and communicate on specific issues and challenges confronting university-based entrepreneurship centers.  More than 200 university-based entrepreneurship centers are members of GCEC including Harvard, Babson, Cornell, Georgetown, Indiana, UC-Berkeley, UNC- Chapel Hill and University of Wisconsin.

The Dallas-Hamilton Center works with students, alumni, and businesses in the community to promote and recognize innovation and incubate startups to drive the economic vitality in the region. Besides the entrepreneurship academic curriculum, some of the notable programs and events the Center hosts include the Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Week, Dallas-Hamilton Hall of Fame, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and the Falcon Hatchery.

One program in particular provides BGSU students with a unique opportunity for success that other colleges don’t provide -  a chance to obtain funding to launch a business startup.  The Hatch™ is the College of Business’s version of “Shark Tank.” Students are selected in the fall to work with alumni mentors and pitch their business ideas to Falcon Investors in the spring in hopes of being funded. Over the past two years, thirteen student entrepreneurs received investor support.

According to Dean Ray Braun, "This is a fantastic opportunity for BGSU, the College of Business, and the Dallas-Hamilton Center to have the international spotlight shine on the highly-ranked entrepreneurial programs we have here." Kern adds, "We are pleased to have this opportunity to share our success with other institutions from all over the world.  The blend of students, alumni mentors, and investors is helping to change the culture of the College of Business, and we are extremely proud to share their stories at the GCEC."