US Northeast

  

West Virginia University

Entrepreneurship Center

Director: Mindy Walls   Mindy.Walls@mail.wvu.edu

Office Administrator: Kelly Kerns   Kelly.Kerns@mail.wvu.edu

 

Located in the College of Business and Economics on the main campus of West Virginia University, the Entrepreneurship Center was founded by the joint efforts of the WVU College of Business & Economics, Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, WVU Extension Service, and the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development. 

Since its inception, the Center has developed a 15-credit entrepreneurship minor, an internship program, and a statewide student business plan competition. It also continues research, sponsors the Entrepreneurship Club, and hosts events for National Entrepreneurship Week.  

The community, state, and national outreach involves WV Vision Shared, Morgantown Entrepreneurs Forum, West Virginia Entrepreneurship Initiative, WV Venture, DreamQuest, WV Department of Education, Young Entrepreneurs, Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (formerly NCEC), and WV Higher Education Entrepreneurship Roundtable.

 

Programs & Activities

 

Focused Academic Curriculum in Entrepreneurship

     A redesigned curriculum that meets the educational needs of undergraduate and graduate students in West Virginia University with specializations in entrepreneurship.

 

Course Requirements

Entrepreneurship Minor

     A minor in entrepreneurship allows the student to study both the theory and practical application of entrepreneurship. Coursework focuses on key business skills particular to both large and small ventures.

    The minor consists of 5 courses totaling 15 credit hours, and NOT AVAILABLE to Business Majors, Business students should see the Management dept. for entrepreneurship courses.

Accounting Component (pick ONE)

ACCT 201: Principles of Accounting 3 Hrs.

 (PR: Sophomore standing)

ARE 110: Agribusiness Accounting 3 Hrs.

 

Communications Component (pick ONE)

SPA 270: Effective Public Speaking 3 Hrs.

ENTR 293B: Entrepreneurial Communications 3 Hrs.

 (This entrepreneurship class does NOT count towards the Entrepreneurship Component)

Entrepreneurship Component (pick THREE)

PR: ACCT. 201 or ARE 110 (upper level)

Fall/ Spring
ENTR 335:	Small Business Entrepreneurship	3 Hrs.
ENTR 410:	Business Innovation	3 Hrs.
ENTR 415:	Entrepreneurship in Action	3 Hrs.
ENTR 435:	New Venture Creation	3 Hrs.
ARE 421:	Rural Enterprise Development	3 Hrs.
ENTR 491:	Professional Field Exp./Intern	3 Hrs. **
ENTR 493G:	Global Entrepreneurship	3 Hrs. **
ENTR 495:	Independent Study	3 Hrs. **
Spring
ENTR 493C: (489)	Statewide Student BPC Finalists ONLY	3 Hrs.**

**Prior approval required

To qualify for a minor in entrepreneurship, a student must have earned a grade of "C" or better in each of the listed required courses.

 

Statewide Student Business Plan Competition

     With the help of trained professionals, student teams develop business plans for their product ideas to be judged by a panel of experts. The winning team receives a grand prize consisting of seed money and business services to help them start up their new business.

http://www.be.wvu.edu/bpc/

     This year the center will hold the 3rd annual WV Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition hosted by the West Virginia University Entrepreneurship Center in the College of Business & Economics. The competition allows students, working as individuals or teams, the opportunity to submit a business idea to be evaluated by a panel of business professionals.

ENTRIES are divided into two categories. Each team must select the category in which they will compete. The same entry may not be submitted in both categories.

Innovation - The introduction of something new and useful, for example, introducing new methods, techniques, or practices, or new or altered products and services. This usually involves some type of new intellectual property. 

Lifestyle - These products or services are already a part of daily life.

GOALof this competition is to provide students with the education, skills, contacts and motivation necessary to create a viable, start-up business in West Virginia. Two grand prize packages consisting of $10,000 in cash and a bundle of services to assist in starting their business are awarded to the top team in each category.  In order to participate, all businesses must plan to locate in West Virginia.

 

ELIGIBILITY:

• Any FULL TIME student attending a degree granting WV institution. Full time status will be verified.
  • Students participating in University approved co-op programs are considered to be full-time students for the purpose of this competition.
• OPEN TO ALL MAJORS
• Should a team member graduate in December 2008, he/she is still eligible to compete, but must attend all mandatory functions.
• All team members must be students, but not necessarily from the same institution.
  • Teams should be comprised of students with diverse skill sets, i.e., marketing, financial
  • See Team Builder link on Competition website: www.be.wvu.edu/bpc to assist you in finding teammates.
• Teams may not exceed 4 members.
• All entries must be for-profit enterprises.  Non-profit businesses are not eligible.
• Teams with business plans that have previously received external funding (family, friends, private investors, bank loans, etc.) of $25,000 or greater are not eligible.
• Teams with business plans affiliated with an existing business are not eligible UNLESS the scope of the entry covers expansion into a significantly different industry or customer base, OR a major geographic expansion.

 

PROCESS begins in early fall with the submission of a 3-5 page summary of a business idea.  Up to 10 Lifestyle teams and 10 Innovation/Technology Teams are selected to advance to Round 2. These teams will compete on November 12, 2008 in an oral “elevator pitch” followed by a series of interviews. The top 5 teams in each category will advance to the Final Round, (April 18, 2009).  Feedback and instruction are given for each round so it is not necessary to have business background to enter.  It is however, helpful to have team members with different areas of expertise. Each idea will be scored by a panel of judges.

Round 1:

Requires a 3-5 page summary of your business idea. These will be scored by a panel of judges using a scoring rubric and up to ten teams in each category will be selected to advance.

Round 2:

Consists of two levels. Each team must travel to the West Virginia Entrepreneurship Initiative Conference where they will present a two minute elevator pitch of their business idea to the conference attendees who will score the ideas. Then each team will participate in a series of interviews with business professionals to discuss their ideas. The top five teams in each category will advance to the final round.

Final Round:

Finalist teams are provided with comprehensive instruction and support in developing a complete business plan for their idea. They are provided an individual business coach to mentor their team and receive a stipend of $1,000.00 to work on their business. Each finalist team submits a 40 page business plan to a panel of judges and then makes an oral presentation to the panel.

 

Entrepreneurship Intern Program

     Entrepreneurship Minor students have the opportunity to receive course credit while working for individual entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and small businesses.

 

Entrepreneurship Research

     The Center conducts and supports academic and applied research that contributes to our understanding of the private enterprise system and entrepreneurship with a focus on how civil society and free-market approaches can best be used to foster entrepreneurial activity.

 

Contact Information

Entrepreneurship Center

College of Business & Economics

P.O. Box 6025

West Virginia University

Morgantown, WV 26506-6025

T: 304.293.7221

F: 304.293.4047