May 12, 2006
DePaul Launches Entrepreneur Week 2006 And New Venture Challenge In May
Warm weather brings spring fever to many college campuses, but this spring, DePaul University is infected with something different –entrepreneur fever.
The university’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center will launch a new series of free programs to help entrepreneurial potential bloom when it hosts Entrepreneurship Week 2006 (E-Week) from May 22 to May 26. The center will kick off the week by announcing the winner of its inaugural business plan competition, the DePaul New Venture Challenge.
Open to the public and DePaul community, the E-Week programs feature presentations on a variety of issues of interest to budding entrepreneurs in all career fields. The events include sessions on the patent process, socially conscious entrepreneurship, how to start your own law firm, entrepreneurship and the arts, entrepreneurship in education, and an “ask the entrepreneur” dinner that allows aspiring business founders to quiz established entrepreneurs (full event information is listed below).
“We’re launching E-Week to elevate awareness that entrepreneurship can be practiced across disciplines,” said Raman Chadha, executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. “Students, alumni and Chicagoans can benefit from learning more about how entrepreneurial concepts can help them in their careers, whether they are – or plan to be – artists, educators or lawyers.”
As a warm-up to E-Week, the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center will announce the winner of its first-ever DePaul New Venture Challenge – a university-wide business plan competition that has attracted a frenzy of interest on campus since it was launched in November. The competition drew new venture proposals from a whopping 44 teams of students, alumni and others outside of the university (each team was required to include at least one student or alumnus of DePaul).
Two rounds of judging by DePaul faculty, area entrepreneurs and investors whittled the field down to 11 semi-finalists, who submitted detailed business plans for their new venture ideas. From these entries, three finalists were chosen. The winning team will receive up to $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in business-launching services that include strategic planning consultation, corporate graphic identity design and incorporation work by vendors affiliated with the center.
“The enthusiasm for this contest is evidence of the strong entrepreneurial spirit we are seeing at DePaul,” Chadha said. “We expected 20 to 25 entries but received nearly double that from students and alumni affiliated with five different colleges at DePaul. About half of the teams contained undergraduate students and the other half had graduate students and alumni. The entries were enormously diverse, representing a wide-range of industry sectors. The competition has given many teams the motivation to pursue new ventures more diligently.”
Chadha said a combination of factors led to the keen competition. “DePaul has many first-generation students who were brought up in entrepreneurial households. Entrepreneurship is very common in the immigrant population. It also reflects the influence of DePaul’s entrepreneurship center and highly ranked academic program in entrepreneurship.”
The DePaul New Venture Challenge finalists are:
The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul’s free, public E-Week events include:
May 22: “Intellectual Property: The Patent Process,” 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 7406. A discussion of the patent process led by an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and an entrepreneur who has gone through the process. The session will cover common questions including: What is patentable? What is the time and cost of the process? How do I get started?
May: 23: “Social Entrepreneurship: Doing Business with a Conscience,” 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., DePaul Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Room 312. Three social entrepreneurs who combine good business sense with the desire to create positive social change discuss their personal stories and provide practical advice about how to get started on your vision for change.
May 23: “Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Education,” 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., DePaul Student Center, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Room 312. Entrepreneurs who have started charter schools, pre-schools and tutoring services discuss how they did it and how you can, too.
May 24: “Starting Your Own Law Firm,” 10 a.m. to noon, DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8014. Many lawyers dream of launching their own firms, but wonder if they can actually do it. This seminar will answer common questions, including: How much money do I need to start? How do I attract the clients I want? How long before I start making money?
May 24: “Ask the Entrepreneur Dinner,” 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., DePaul Club,11th Floor. Participants in this informal, bring-your-own dinner have a chance to ask experienced entrepreneurs about their businesses, including questions about discovering ideas and opportunity, how to finance start-ups and lessons learned.
May 25: “Meet DePaul’s School for New Learning Entrepreneurs,” 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., DePaul Club, 11th Floor. Network with students and alumni from the School for New Learning, DePaul’s college tailored to adult learners, who are already running their own businesses.
May 26: “Entrepreneurship in the Arts,” 10 a.m. to noon, Richardson Library, 2350 N. Kenmore Ave., Room 400. A panel of artist-entrepreneurs discuss how they balance running businesses and staying true to their art.
To register for E-Week events, go to the Web site: http://cec.depaul.edu/eweek/. For more information, call the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center: (312) 362-8625.
The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center was established at DePaul in 2003 through a Coleman Foundation matching grant of $2.5 million. Building on DePaul’s well-respected academic programs in entrepreneurship, the center offers services to help develop and grow businesses.