The Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU-Boulder has received a $10,000 grant to support the center's summer internship program for MBA students.
It is the fifth grant awarded to the center by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, a not-for-profit organization that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship in America.
"This program helps us close the gap between theory and practice," said Kathy Simon, director of the Deming Center. "The summer MBA entrepreneurship internship program is one of the largest and most successful programs of its kind in the nation. We try to ensure that every MBA entrepreneurship student has an opportunity to work during the summer months on projects and with companies or agencies that are truly entrepreneurial, exposing them to the challenges and rewards of new ventures."
The grant provides stipends to MBA student interns who work for social-service non-profits and early-stage, for-profit companies. RhinoMax of Englewood, SoftSource of Broomfield and Wideforce Systems of Louisville are representative of the for-profit startups. Entrepreneurial Solutions, LLC, a consulting company run by MBA students, has started work on two not-for-profit projects funded by the Kauffman Center grant.
In addition to internships funded by the Kauffman Center, the Deming Center is seeing continued interest from the business community in hiring MBAs as paid summer interns, Simon said. "Â鶹ÊÓƵ 50 percent of the MBA class of 2002 are entrepreneurship students, and almost all of them will be employed this summer as interns."
Typical internship assignments include market research and analysis; project and product management; strategic planning; financial planning, analysis and management; venture capital and investment banking modeling and analysis; new product development; and research and evaluation of new business opportunities.
The Deming Center, a joint program of the colleges of business and engineering, supports students interested in entrepreneurship by providing them with real world experiences supported through fellowships, internships, mentorships, projects in entrepreneurial companies and courses taught by top tenured faculty.
The Kauffman Center was established in 1992 by Ewing Marion Kauffman, an entrepreneurial leader in pharmaceuticals. The center, based in Kansas City, Mo., is funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.