Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Davidson College:

Charlotte Inno reports that Davidson College’s Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has partnered with the town of Davidson to launch an initiative aimed at escalating the growth of small businesses there.

Known as “Amplify Davidson,” the program that launched earlier this month provides a multifaceted approach with learning and networking opportunities for local entrepreneurs and small businesses. The key components of the initiative include skills-based educational programming, access to business consulting and matching underrepresented entrepreneurs with subsidized talent.

Liz Brigham, Director of The Jay Hurt Hub at Davidson, said those offerings are crucial for small businesses to succeed.

“We believe that by equipping our small businesses with essential skills and resources and fostering a collaborative culture around entrepreneurship, we can create a thriving and resilient community,” she said.

From the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign:

New research co-written by an expert in technology entrepreneurship and scientific labor markets at the institution finds that commonly held views about job-choice decision-making are not always accurate when it comes to highly sought-after tech workers.

Co-written by Michael Roach, a Professor of Business Administration at the Gies College of Business,  found that the default is not necessarily choosing jobs with established companies that offer the highest pay and benefits, ostensibly leaving resource-constrained startups to sift through a weaker talent pool.

“Certain workers are willing to take a job for lower pay in exchange for other benefits such as working for a smaller firm and feeling like they’re contributing to the creation of something new and novel,” he said. “For some high-ability tech workers, there’s more significance to being employee number 20 than employee number 2,000.”

The paper, which was published in the journal Management Science, was co-written by Henry Sauermann of the European School of Management and Technology Berlin.

From the University of Arkansas:

A fellowship program launched in 2021 to support promising graduate students from all disciplines in the pursuit of scalable, technology-based ventures has named its newest cohort of seven.

The Graduate Entrepreneurial Fellowship, led by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, allows Fellows to devote at least 20 hours per week to entrepreneurial pursuits and gain opportunities for intensive mentoring and networking, access to seed funding, and business model development. In their first year of the fellowship, which is renewable for a second year, most fellows pursue the Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship.

Click here to learn more.

From Columbia, SC:

Benedict College, in partnership with Black@ Labs, is launching its inaugural accelerator program aimed at empowering and uplifting entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds across South Carolina.

In 2022, the school received a $525,000 award from the U.S. Department of Commerce to help organize, launch, and operate a statewide investment accelerator program for underrepresented and minority persons who are in the early stages of entrepreneurship in South Carolina. The grant was received through the “Build to Scale” program of the Economic Development Administration.

“The collaboration with Black@ Labs brings valuable expertise to South Carolina,” said Tracy Dunn, Dean of the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship. “We are excited to partner with Black@ Labs as our accelerator vendor. This team of professionals specializes in working with diverse early-stage start-ups, and its principal founder has roots in South Carolina. Bringing back a talented South Carolinian to the state to share expertise that benefits the state is especially gratifying.”

Applications for the inaugural cohort are being accepted until October 2. More information can be found here.

 

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