Welcome to the Boise State University Center for Entrepreneurship
Start. Grow. Succeed.
VISION : Creating the future through entrepreneurship®
Mission
The mission of the Boise State University Center for Entrepreneurship is to develop, facilitate and encourage entrepreneurship through academic programs, research and community outreach.
Academic Programs
Undergraduate Degree Programs in Entrepreneurship Management: Since 2010, the Department of Management in the College of Business and Economics has offered an undergraduate major in entrepreneurship management. Depending the courses completed, students graduate with either a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree with their major in Entrepreneurship Management.
Graduate Business Studies Programs Electives: The Graduate Business Studies programs, such as the MBA, MS Accountancy or Tax, and MS Finance, regularly offer elective entrepreneurship courses. Topics include New Venture Creation, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Opportunity Recognition, and others, such that graduate business students may emphasize entrepreneurship in their graduate studies.
Entrepreneurship Elective Course for all Boise State University students: Recently, all entry requirements were changed to open all graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship classes to any Boise State student. As a result, enrollment in entrepreneurship class by students from engineering, sciences and the arts has increased.
Student Directed Angel Capital Investment Fund: Entrepreneurship faculty have been in discussions with local angel capital investment groups about creating a student directed angel capital investment fund, which would allow students to sit at the table with angel investors to learn about the funding process and then invest along the angels in seed stage deals. The investment fund would come from donations to the College from local angel investors and other benefactors.*
Internship Programs: Students are able to work with local start up and growing business as interns to learn about entrepreneurship first hand. Also, students are able to work with local angel capital investment groups learning about the start up funding process including due diligence, venture finance and managing growth.
Business Plan Competitions: The Center for Entrepreneurship and College of Business and Economics offer annual business plan competitions open to all Boise State University students. As part of the competition, students prepare a written business plan and present their plans for evaluation by a panel of entrepreneurs, investors and other business people. Students are recognized for the Best Written Plan, Best Presentation and Most Viable Business Plan. Students also compete for the best one minute presentation. In addition, the best teams from Boise State go on to compete in other national and international business plan competitions, such as the University of Texas at Austin’s Moot Corp, the “Superbowl of Business Plan Competitions.”
Entrepreneurship Club / Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization: Working with a faculty advisor, the Entrepreneurship Club is a university recognized student organization that brings students interested in entrepreneurship together in a social context to share and learn.
Entrepreneur in Residence: The College of Business launched the Entrepreneur in Residence program in 2010 as a way for experienced entrepreneurs to share their insights and knowledge with students as advisors and mentors.*
Research
Published Research on Entrepreneurship: Boise State COBE faculty regularly publish scholarly research in internationally recognized journals, such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and others.
Conference Presentations on Entrepreneurship: Boise State COBE entrepreneurship faculty regularly present their research findings at national and international academic conferences, such as the Babson Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Academy of Management Annual Conference, and the International Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference.
Community Outreach
Live Case Projects: As part of their entrepreneurship and general business courses, faculty routinely work with local entrepreneurs on issues such as market assessment, product development, venture formation and business plan writing. These projects provide a real world, hands on way for students to engage with local entrepreneurs and apply their classroom learning to real business situations.
Entrepreneur Speaker Series: The Center for Entrepreneurship hosts a speaker series featuring successful entrepreneurs and other related topics. The speaker series is open to and promoted to everyone on campus and in the community.*
Student Internships with Entrepreneurial Companies and Angel Capital Groups: The Center for Entrepreneurship and College of Business and Economics works with local companies and angel investment groups to provide student interns benefitting the organizations with assistance and the students with experience. Example organizations include Boise Angel Fund, Keiretsu Forum, and Inovus Solar.
Entrepreneur in Residence: The Entrepreneur in Residence provides offers successful entrepreneurs that opportunity to touch the lives of students in a positive manner.*
Joint Programs with Idaho Small Business Development Center, Service Corp of Retired Executives, Kickstand and others organizations: The Center for Entrepreneurship works with various organizations on education, training and social networking events on campus and within the community. These joint projects provide a way for the college and university to be an active contributing member of the local business community.
Technology Commercialization: Faculty affiliated with the Center for Entrepreneurship work with the university’s Technology Transfer Office on commercialization of university inventions, patents and discoveries. Also, faculty members work with organizations, such as the Idaho National Energy Lab, on technology transfer and commercialization.
Outreach to Idaho High School Students: The Center for Entrepreneurship is in discussion with high schools across the state to promote and foster entrepreneurship among high school students and to recruit outside high school students to Boise State’s entrepreneurship program.*
Online Education and Training Programs: The Center for Entrepreneurship is in discussion with the Idaho Small Business Development Center on ways to provide educational and training solutions across the state via an online network. This could prove to be an effective cost efficient way to encourage economic development in the state, particularly the state’s rural areas.*
*In development