College of Business launches Center for Entrepreneurship with activities March 23-26

Lipscomb University’s College of Business announces the establishment of the Center for Entrepreneurship, directed by Joe Ivey, clinical professor of management and a former Fortune 500 company CEO.

 

The Center for Entrepreneurship will promote entrepreneurship by providing concentrations in entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship within the management major and a minor in entrepreneurship available for all Lipscomb majors – including students outside of the College of Business – as well as conducting student-focused and community-focused activities to raise awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities.

 

The center will launch March 23 with four days of activities including a by-invitation-only presentation by Phil Pfeffer, former president of Random House, who will be recognized as the Lipscomb Center for Entrepreneurship “Entrepreneur of the Year.” In addition, the launch week will include Nashville’s first “Elevator Pitch” contest for business students, an entrepreneurship forum for military veterans and an all-day music entrepreneurship workshop led by the Drapkin Institute for Music Entrepreneurship of Austin, Texas.

 

 

“The Center of Entrepreneurship is a valuable resource in the College of Business to prepare any Lipscomb graduate to turn a dream into a successful economic enterprise, in any economic environment,” said Turney Stevens, dean of the College of Business. “There is no one better that students and local community people could learn from than Joe Ivey, who has not only run three companies himself but also served as Lipscomb’s senior vice president for advancement before coming to the business college.”

 

Ivey, who has experience in business start-ups, family businesses and large public companies, is also a former national president of the Associated Builders and Contractors, and was chosen “Contractor of the Year” by the organization in 1996. He was a member of the inaugural class of Mississippi’s “Top 40 Under 40,” and is currently a member of the Mays Business School Executive MBA Advisory Council at Texas A&M University.

 

Since coming to Nashville in 2005, Ivey has represented higher education on the Nashville Health Care Association’s Trade Mission to China and become a member of the boards of Second Harvest Food Bank, the International Business Council of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and Christian Community Services Inc. in Nashville.

 

“In today’s stressed economic environment, many people are looking to their own strengths and talents to thrive during fiscally difficult times,” Ivey said. “Starting an enterprise takes passion, but making that enterprise successful takes business savvy and experience. The Center for Entrepreneurship will provide the essential knowledge, skills and inspiration individuals need to create a successful business.”

 

“Students pursuing many types of careers – from counseling or engineering to art or ministry – at some time in their lives find themselves in need of management, marketing or financial acumen to carry out their entrepreneurial dreams,” he said. “The Center for Entrepreneurship is designed to make better businesspeople of any Lipscomb student who may want to become a business owner someday.”

 

 

 

 

Entrepreneurship Week, March 23-26, will include a combination of activities designed to inspire students and promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the community. Unless noted otherwise, these events are open to the public.

 

4-6 p.m., Swang Center, Room 108

The first round of the Elevator Pitch Competition will include up to 25 student teams providing 60-second elevator pitches for new companies. Nick Holland, founder of Centersource Interactive Agency, an Internet marketing company, will give a special address after the presentations.

 

10:55 a.m., Swang Center, Room 108
Phil Pfeffer, president and CEO of Treemont Capital Inc., former president of Random House and former CEO of Ingram Distribution Group Inc., will speak to a gathering of Lipscomb business students in Swang Center, Room 108. At noon, he will address an invitation-only luncheon for Middle Tennessee venture capitalists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, CEOs and CFOs from major companies.

 

Mixer for Military Veterans
Nashville Entrepreneurship Center (Call 615.966.5345 for time)
The Lipscomb Center for Entrepreneurship will host a mixer for military veterans interested in learning more about starting their own company or practice.

 

3 p.m., Swang Center, Room 108

The finals of the business plan competition, with a special address by Ronald Gordon of the Tennessee Small Business Association on how to take a good idea to the next level.

 

8 a.m.-5 p.m., Ward Hall

Forge Your Own Career in Music: Music Entrepreneurship Workshop

The Drapkin Institute for Music Entrepreneurship of Austin, Texas, will hold a workshop showing musicians how to use self-promotion and savvy marketing to step beyond the traditional career path.