The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul University will host an open house and networking event for Chicago’s aspiring and established entrepreneurs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., 11th floor. Hosted by the center’s new Executive Director Raman Chadha and DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneur Chair Harold Welsch, the free event will provide information about the center’s services and programs. For more information, call the center: 312/362-8625.

The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was established at DePaul through a Coleman Foundation pledge of $2.5 million in 2003. Building on DePaul’s well-respected academic programs in entrepreneurship that were first offered in 1982, the center promotes entrepreneur education and offers services to help people develop and grow businesses. Since opening its doors in September of 2003, the center has assisted more than 100 entrepreneur clients through professional and student-based consulting services.

New programs being introduced this fall include an innovative seminar series called Angel Academy to increase the number of private investors for, and investments made to, Chicago entrepreneurs; the DePaul New Venture Challenge, a business plan competition to stimulate entrepreneurial activity in the Chicago area; and peer advisory round table discussions to help business owners solve problems and overcome challenges through the knowledge and experience of fellow entrepreneurs.

DePaul’s entrepreneurship program was named among the 13 best in the country in Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual evaluation of the “Top 100 Entrepreneurial Colleges” published in May of 2004. DePaul landed a spot in the first tier of “comprehensive entrepreneurial programs at nationally prominent colleges and universities” for the second year in a row.