What happened? East Central University students received high honors at the 2023 i2E Love’s Cup event. Madelyn Hess won the Pitch Award and 3^rd Place Award in the Small Business category for her business idea “Take It Easel.” Nathan Fountain received an Interview Award in the Service Business category.

Why it matters: The Ada Jobs Foundation continues to sponsor the Love’s Cup event as a way to support East Central University’s Entrepreneurship Students and these students have consistently received awards at this event over the years under the leadership of Dr. Stacey Bolin. This event is an opportunity to celebrate entrepreneurship in our state and provide students with opportunities to gain skills as entrepreneurs pitching business ideas to a group of expert judges.

On Tuesday, April 18^th, the Ada Jobs Foundation held a monthly tech and entrepreneurship meetup event at the Opera House coffee shop in Durant, OK. The event featured a live interview with Billy Hamilton, Small Business Development Service Director with the Choctaw Nation. The interview was recorded for the third episode of the Conduit Chats podcast, which will be posted soon and available on all major podcast platforms. The May event is currently being scheduled, and details will be available in future newsletters and on the Ada Jobs Foundation’s Facebook and Instagram pages.