Source: Jeff Hornsby, 785-532-1301, jhornsby@k-state.edu
Website: http://cba.k-state.edu/about/departments-initiatives/center-advancement-entrepreneurship/
News release prepared by: Olivia Blanco, 785-532-2753, oblanco@k-state.edu
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012
Winning entrepreneurship: Center for Advancement of Entrepreneurship earns new honor
MANHATTAN -- The Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship at Kansas State University is the recipient of the 2012 Emerging Center Award from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers.
Led by Jeffrey Hornsby, professor of management and the Jack Vanier chair of entrepreneurship and innovation, the center is housed in the College of Business Administration. Entrepreneurship and innovation are main initiatives of the college.
Award judges called the center impressive and said that what the center's leadership had accomplished over a very short period was amazing.
Founded in 2008 under the provost's office, the center became part of College of Business Administration in 2011. Since its inception, the center has worked toward bringing entrepreneurship to all disciplines across campus with programming like the Hospitality and Entrepreneurship Lecture Series, hosted in collaboration with the College of Human Ecology.
"This award represents the major accomplishments the center's had in reaching across the Kansas State University campus -- the center was designed to be inclusive of all majors and colleges across campus," Hornsby said.
The center offers an entrepreneurship major and a minor, which are open to students in all colleges. It also sponsors entrepreneurship competitions at the university and across Kansas, including The Next Big Thing, an annual entrepreneurial idea competition open to all students on the Manhattan campus, and Venture Kansas, a similar competition in western Kansas.
In 2011, the center received the Emerging Program Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
"We are thrilled to accept this award on behalf of our passionate students and visionary leader," said Chad Jackson, associate director of the center. "We are excited about the continued expansion of our programs and are looking forward to working with entrepreneurs across Kansas."
The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers is a 200-member organization of university-based entrepreneurship centers. It is headquartered in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.