Arcadia University has opened a new entrepreneurship center that will help students gain knowledge and best practices for a real-world environment.
The university aims to leverage its leadership in preparing graduates for a global marketplace with the creation of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Enterprises at the School of Global Business.
“This is a key initiative for Arcadia,” said Carl (Tobey) Oxholm III, president of Arcadia.
“It acknowledges that a significant percentage of our young people today are taking their academic knowledge and creative skills directly from college into small business.”
“This is an approach to education that has been Arcadia’s hallmark for decades,” stated Oxholm.
“It will allow the university to be of greater service in the local communities of Cheltenham, Abington and Philadelphia.”
The center will identify and create partnerships with students, alumni, local businesses and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the center aims to provide a variety of seminars, mentoring programs, internships and consultant engagements with companies.
Integrating classroom teaching and business practices will provide research and experiential opportunities for students and faculty.
With a mission to encourage entrepreneurial thinking, the School of Global Business faculty, students and staff are passionate about entrepreneurship and the impact it will have in the region.
“Entrepreneurship is a major aspect of our economy that offers both employment opportunities and income accumulation,” said N.J. Delener, Ph.D., founding dean of the School of Global Business.
“The Center for Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Enterprises is developed to meet the needs of students who have varied backgrounds in entrepreneurial ventures, who are part of a family business, or who are interested in starting a business when they graduate.”
The new center will offer assistance to qualified local small businesses and non-profits. Arcadia’s pool of top students in the School of Global Business will share their expertise and provide consultation services in most functional areas including, but not limited to, marketing, advertising, human resources, strategic planning and operations.
“The Center for Entrepreneurship is important because it is where young talents are cultivated and channeled for the purpose of benefitting society and making a living through it,” said Provost Steve O. Michael.
“Entrepreneurship means looking for the needs of society and looking for creative means to meet those needs and to do it at a profit. Setting up a center that will attract young people and equip them with the knowledge and the skills to be able to do that is a very important goal of a progressive school of business.”
