The Latest Happenings from the ECenter
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Happy New Year from the ECenter!
The ECenter is the co-curricular heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH. Our goal is to create the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mind-set who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions others have missed, one idea at a time. Although part of UNH, we are independent of any one college.
The ECenter delivers unique hands-on experiential programming that inspires, nurtures, and mentors students from any major, at every step of process, anywhere from idea development to company creation.
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In this January 2018 Newsletter, you'll learn more about the latest things we're doing to advance the ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship culture at UNH!
Best Regards!
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Ian Grant
Director, ECenter
e.center@unh.edu
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Students Attend US-China Entrepreneurship Forum
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In December 2017, Kate Aiken (l) and Molly Benz (r), both juniors at the Paul College for Business and Economics, attended the US-China Youth Entrepreneurship Forum in Shenzhen, China. The opportunity was offered through the ECenter's partnership with Arizona State University.
Commented Molly Benz, “We had two days of seminars, breakout groups, and discussions where we covered topics such as what social entrepreneurship looks like in the US vs in China, and then two days to explore the local areas. The most beneficial part of the conference was meeting all of the different people. I was able to share my story and my company with other innovators, and get advice from them on what to do and how to grow my brand. Everyone was full of so much support, and it was inspiring to hear their stories of how they started from the ground up. I met so many people with whom I became close friends in a short four days. I now have a bunch of business connections and homes to stay in if I travel abroad again!”
Added Kate Aiken, “I found the session about social entrepreneurship especially interesting. The speakers seemed to find the concept unnecessary. There are no double bottom lines. I came to understand that they focus on revenue and profit margins and that the government handles social management. I personally find it important for companies to inspire their employees with reasons for organizational commitment like being a part of a greater good. This experience was incredibly insightful and I'm thankful to the ECenter and ASU for the opportunity."
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ECenter Coaches Student Winners of SVIC
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ECenter Director, Ian Grant, had the pleasure of mentoring Andrew DeMeo (COLSA '18) of Honey-Do (l) and Geno Miller (Paul College '17) of Schtudy (r) as they prepared to compete in the 2017 student-track of the Social Venture Innovation Challenge, hosted by the Center for Social Innovation and Enterprise.
Honey-Do, a cooperative, full-service, beekeeping business took first place. Said Andrew, "When I first came to the ECenter, Honey-Do was a loosely defined, half-baked concept. The ECenter connected me with Ian Grant, who helped me refine and simplify the business principles, presentation, and core concepts behind my SVIC entry. The choice to closely follow his advice (even his suggestion that I wear a bee-suit in the final presentation) has ended up being one of the best of my life. Looking back, it is clear to me that without Ian's help our idea would not have been competitive in the contest."
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Schtudy, the second place winner, is a value-based company dedicated to delivering proven educational solutions to prepare students for academic success. Geno developed a passion for helping students achieve academic excellence after he struggled and persevered through rigorous college classes upon arrival at UNH.
"I truly wish there was a resource such as the ECenter my freshman year of college," said Geno. "We continuously improve literally every day when we talk to an advisor or make a connection through the people here at the ECenter. Whether it is exploring a gap in our product, or connecting me with someone who may be interested in what we’re doing, we get a step closer to success everyday. As entrepreneurs, we have business meetings everyday that we may appreciate or not care for. I look forward to every single one at the ECenter because I know it will help me improve."
Congrats, Andrew and Geno!
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The Idea & Innovation Society Launches
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In partnership with UNH Admissions, the ECenter launched the Idea & Innovation Society this month with an exclusive invitation to apply sent to students accepted into the incoming freshman class.
The Idea & Innovation Society was created to embrace incoming and innovative-minded first year students—from all colleges and backgrounds—and immediately provide a community of students to connect, collaborate, share ideas and resources, and to help them run faster with their ideas and innovations.
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Up to 25 students will join the Society and enjoy exclusive benefits at the ECenter and with ECenter partners at UNH, such as
$200 of seed funding to help take their idea to the next level, quarterly innovation meetings, access to alumni entrepreneur mentors, 1:1 coaching, and more
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UNH would like to acknowledge and thank Arizona State University’s Entrepreneurship + Innovation Team for the concept support in the creation of UNH’s Idea & Innovation Society.
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ECenter a Runner-up for USASBE Award
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We're thrilled to announce the ECenter was
runner-up to NC State
for the
United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship's (USASBE) Excellence in Co-Curricular Innovation Award for our i2 Passport Program.
The Co-Curricular Innovation Award celebrates the critical role of co-curricular programming in the overall entrepreneurship education ecosystem. This award category encourages and recognizes innovative, co-curricular programs that feature creativity, quality, sustainability, and impact.
Director Ian Grant attended the USASBE Conference in Los Angeles and presented on i2 Passport for the Award. As mentioned in our November 2017 Newsletter, the i2 Passport Program is designed to drive voluntary activity and event engagement by all undergraduate students in the areas of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship with the reward of winning money to help pay off student loans or tuition. Students are awarded “visa stamp credits” in their "passports" for each identified activity in which they participate.
On September 18th, we launched the 2017-2018 academic year iteration of the i2 Passport Program, sponsored by Harry Patten, '58. This iteration provides participating students with the chance to win $25,000 in cash prizes to help pay off student loans and tuition, with an additional focus on FirstGen students (first in family to attend college).
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UNH University Innovation Fellows Receive Their Pins
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Pictured above from left to right at the ceremony are: Nicholas Stuart ('20, Paul College of Business and Economics), Devin McMahon ('19, Paul College of Business and Economics), Nadia Fereydooni ('19, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences), and Michelle Paradise ('20, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences).
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Devin, Michelle, Nick, and Nadia will be taking on various projects around the Durham campus to expand ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH!
The program has trained more than 1,200 students since its creation.
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ECenter's Spring 2018 Programs
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We have a lot of exciting programs for the spring 2018 semester!
In partnership with CaPS (Career and Professional Success), we're launching the "Game Changers: Creating Change & Innovation From All Majors" Speaker Series. Each of the three events in the Series will feature a panel of innovative and entrepreneurial speakers from a different college major, some UNH alumni as well. The Series is sponsored by the WP Carey Foundation.
We're also holding a two-part Design Thinking Bootcamp with James Intriligator, Professor of the Practice - Human Factors and Design from Tufts University. At the Bootcamp, students will understand the philosophy and evolution of design thinking, have an awareness of how design thinking can be applied in a wide range of contexts, from the personal to the global, investigate and think creatively about design problems and opportunities, and initiate an attitude of playfulness to aid design thinking.
All four of these events will be worth Visa Stamp Credits for the i2 Passport Program.
After a successful launch in the summer of 2017, the Paid Student Internship at Start-ups Program (sponsored by Harry Patten, '58) is back. The Internship Program provides four UNH undergraduate students with $4,000 stipends while working at start-ups 40-hours a week for ten weeks.
Visit our website for details. If you're a start-up interested in applying to host a student, please contact Program Manager Heather MacNeill at heather.macneill@unh.edu.
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Ian Grant, Director
Ian.Grant@unh.edu
(603) 862-5470
Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center
21 Madbury Road, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824
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Heather MacNeill, Program Manager
Heather.MacNeill@unh.edu
(603) 862-4959
Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center
21 Madbury Road, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824
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