Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership partners with Wood County to expand student programming

Wood County Economic Development Commission contributes $15,000 to engage high school students at BGSU

Bowling Green State University and the Wood County Economic Development Commission are partnering to foster entrepreneurship by expanding the University’s programming for future business leaders. 

The commission contributed $15,000 to the Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership to further expand its entrepreneurial programming for high school students in the region. 

The Paul J. Hooker Center, housed within the Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, is one of just 20 nationally recognized by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. 

Its partnership with the Wood County Economic Development Commission reflects both parties’ commitment to fostering new business ideas and developing tomorrow’s business leaders by leveraging the expertise of the Schmidthorst College of Business' faculty, staff and state-of-the-art facilities.

“The commission is working trying to drive business to this area and let people know how great this area is, and that’s where BGSU fits in,” said Kurstyn Loeffler, director of the Paul J. Hooker Center. “These types of events have an entrepreneurial piece and they bring workforce to the area by developing businesses and having them come here to Wood County.”

The commission previously secured $25,000 in private funding to support students after The Hatch, a semester-long program that guides student business ideas from startup to launch and culminates with a pitch to alumni investors.

J. Douglas Miller, a partner at Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick and national service line leader for intellectual property, technology and data who serves on the board of advisors for the Paul J. Hooker Center and the executive board of the Wood County Economic Development Commission, said both parties have an interest in seeing the other do well to foster entrepreneurship.

“Quite frankly, I think BGSU has one of the top business schools in the country,” Miller said. “By reaching out and engaging high school students, a number of them will likely come to BGSU and stay in Wood County, which benefits everybody: BGSU, Wood County and the students.”

Miller said fostering entrepreneurial endeavors for students — both before and during their time at BGSU — is a worthwhile investment that can yield benefits for the region at large.

“The commissioners have always supported incubating businesses and tried to foster the development of new businesses and entrepreneurs within the Wood County area, and we’ve looked at The Hatch at BGSU, especially, as being a program that achieves those goals,” Miller said.

“Even if one or two of the Hatchlings are successful and stay in the area, that’s a huge plus for Wood County. There is the potential that somebody can be a very successful business, and we’re trying to foster that.”

Loeffler said the new funding will allow BGSU to provide additional programming similar to what it offers during E-Week, but at different points throughout the year to continue outreach to high school students who have expressed an interest in business. 

Through events like the Lunch and Learn series, during which students hear directly from successful business alumni, BGSU can leverage its resources to engage high school students. Loeffler said the Entrepreneurial Center has many ideas for how to expand with additional activities that bring high school students to campus to develop as likely future business students. 

“Not only are we using expertise within the College of Business — and we have a lot of capacity there — but also with community members who have started businesses here and alumni who can serve on panels to speak to students about their success,” Loeffler said. “We’re using all of those resources to show what the area has to offer and what BGSU has to offer.”