Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at BGSU welcomes new Advisory Board members

The center serves as northwest Ohio's premier resource for entrepreneurial education and brings entrepreneurial leaders to campus

Bowling Green State University continues to help business savvy students and alumni succeed through the Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, which has welcomed six new members to its Advisory Board.

Housed in the Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, the Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership is northwest Ohio's premier resource for entrepreneurial education and brings entrepreneurial leaders from around the country to campus. The center is also one of only 20 centers worldwide recognized by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Guided by more than a dozen highly successful entrepreneurs, the center's Board of Advisors works closely with the Paul J. Hooker Center director and the dean to promote programs and services to help others launch new business ventures.

New board members for 2021 include:

• Bill Dabbelt '78, Partner, Rock Fence Partners LLC, Bonita Springs, Florida
• George Heath '87, Group President, Sherwin Williams (retired), Chagrin Falls, Ohio
• Eric Nowlin '82, President and Founder, Private Equity Advisors, Corona del Mar, California
• Brad Seaman '82, Managing Partner, Parallel49 Equity, Lake Forest, Illinois
• Aly Sterling, Aly Sterling Philanthropy and Founder at Aly Sterling Launch, Toledo
• Steve Zirkel '84, President and CEO, Blue Everest LLC, Toledo

Additionally, the Paul J. Hooker Center recently welcomed Mark West, interim director and executive in residence, after Kirk Kern, former director, stepped down from his role at the end of June.

“The Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership has had an outstanding Advisory Board since its inception, and the addition of these six members strengthens the collective represented skillsets," said Paul J. Hooker '75, Advisory Board chair and former CEO of SFERRA Fine Linens. "This team of entrepreneurial experts brings the skills and know-how needed to implement a program that will have undergraduate students, across all BGSU colleges, thinking like entrepreneurs, no matter their career choice upon graduation.”

The Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership hosts The Hatch®, a popular event that mimics the television show "Shark Tank" and is touted as a best-in-class practice program where BGSU students, known as “Hatchlings,” pitch their business ideas to alumni investors. So far, more than $600,000 has been invested to support student businesses.

The center promotes an entrepreneurship minor offered through BGSU. Special music entrepreneurship and arts entrepreneurship classes are also offered to students.