Spirit of Enterprise Center

                                

The Spirit of Enterprise Center

Celebrating Ethics, Energy and Excellence in Entrepreneurship™

 “Changing Lives Through Education” is more than a catch phrase, it is the way we conduct ourselves at the W. P. Carey School of Business.  As we aspire to burnish our reputation as a “top of mind” business school, one of the key initiatives that differentiates the school and its graduates is Entrepreneurship.

 The mission of the Spirit of Enterprise Center (“Spirit”) is to be the touchstone for all aspects of Entrepreneurship that affect our constituents (sponsors, volunteers, nominees, award recipients, family businesses, students, faculty and alumni).  We have determined that the highest and best use of our skill set is to be the first place our constituents think of to connect to the appropriate resource…and to facilitate that connection.   Here are some important representations of Spirit’s impact:

•  Assisting hundreds of businesses each year by providing them guidance and connections to key resources within ASU and throughout the community.

•  Linking teams of W. P. Carey Students with businesses to serve as class projects, case studies, and other learning objectives that result in value-added services for the business.  This initiative, known as STEP (Student Teams for Entrepreneurship Projects), has assisted over 75 companies and has received very high marks from students and companies alike.

• Educating entrepreneurs and students through our Guest Speaker Program.  Students gain valuable insight into the mindset, inspiration and passion of entrepreneurs and theentrepreneurs themselves see how the W. P. Carey School of Business integrates the classroom with the community.

•  Supporting a Management Major in Entrepreneurship that enables undergraduate and graduate students to understand the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship so that they might chart their own path to making a difference

 The culmination of these activities is the annual Spirit of Enterprise Awards. This event, celebrating its 17^th year, brings together over 800 entrepreneurial - minded individuals each year to showcase leading local and regional companies that best exhibit the cornerstone attributes of Spirit:  Ethics, Energy and Excellence in Entrepreneurship.

 Please take a closer look and consider aligning yourself and your company with the Spirit of Enterprise Center.  It is a terrific community of individuals that share a common belief in two of the highest forms of accomplishment…building something from nothing and giving back to the community.  Spirit is 100% self-supporting and we rely solely on the generosity of our sponsors to support our programs and our staffing.