Entrepreneurship Faculty Present at International Conference

One of the world’s largest conferences of university-based entrepreneurship centers was held in London and two BGSU business faculty presented the success story of the Dallas-Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Kirk D. Kern, Director of the Dallas-Hamilton Center and BGSU professor, Dr. Gene Poor, Hamilton Professor of Entrepreneurship, presented an engaging case study called “Resurrecting a Dormant Entrepreneurial Center.”

The two faculty members held a 60-minute interactive breakout session to a room full of conference attendees. They described how a change in culture through engagement and co-curricular activities within the College of Business turned the dormant center into a vibrant hub for students and alumni in just two years.

The Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) international conference spotlights a limited number of entrepreneurial centers each year. 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.

One BGSU program in particular that Professors Poor and Kern highlighted at the conference was the highly successful Hatch program. This unique opportunity provides BGSU students with a chance to launch their business by pitching their idea to investors. The Hatch™ is the College of Business’s version of the hit television show “Shark Tank.” Over the past two years, thirteen student entrepreneurs received investor support. According to Kern, “Our attendees had never seen a program like the ‘Hatch’. They were amazed at how comprehensive the program is and the high quality outcomes we have achieved. By the end of the day, the ‘buzz’ factor from our attendees was soaring amongst the convention.”

BGSU’s Hatch program is one of the only programs in the USA to actually fund businesses with alumni investment rather than give prize money to the best business ideas.