"As a STEM major, I didn’t have much experience or knowledge about the process of building a business. The Grove City College entrepreneurship program taught me a ton about the process and sparked my interest in starting a business." – David Corbin ’20, computer science major
Students of all majors participate in competitions, programs, events, and international experiences that give them valuable real-world experience while integrating what truly matters — values, judgment, and a Christian perspective.
E+I presents entrepreneurship as a mindset and equips students with a set of practical skills and hands-on experiences that prepare them to succeed, regardless of career path. Programs contribute to local and regional economic development by bringing students and the community together to solve problems cooperatively through service-learning projects, volunteerism, and targeted events.
For students interested in starting a business, E+I offers programming geared toward supporting student ventures and shares the mission of the Department of Entrepreneurship of educating and inspiring principled, high-impact entrepreneurs whose innovations improve people’s lives and solve important problems.
The entrepreneurship program at Grove City College includes both the Department of Entrepreneurship, which handles all aspects of the student academic experience, as well as the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation, which provides experiential learning activities and events focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation for the entire student body, regardless of major. Together, the department and the center are committed to creating a dynamic entrepreneurial environment for our students to learn, grow, and experiment with real-world entrepreneurial ideas and opportunities.
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The Habbershon Family Innovation Zone is E+I’s impressive physical space at Grove City College. The Zone is designed to be a highly collaborative space for students of all majors to utilize for a variety of purposes. The tables and chairs in the Zone can be arranged in any formation to meet a variety of needs. In addition, there are six double-sided whiteboards that can be utilized and moved to any part of the room. It is located within Staley Hall of Arts and Letters in Room 202 on upper campus.
The Zone
Through the Richard G. Staley ’62 Visionary Entrepreneur Speaker Series, the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation (E+I) hosts visionary leaders, investors, and builders whose compelling stories of success and failure inspire and enlighten our students, provoke thought, and stimulate conversation.
Staley Speaker Series
Enjoy video content from E+I speaker series, lectures, competitions, student interviews, and more on E+I TV.
E+I TV
The Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation (E+I) at Grove City College supports and empowers entrepreneurs of all majors to start and succeed in their own entrepreneurial ventures. Our nationally recognized array of programs, competitions, and events are open to students of all majors. We are proud of our alumni, and we hope you enjoy their stories and paths as much as we do!
Got an early-stage business or social enterprise idea? Start here. The Grove City College VentureLab provides access to exclusive resources and assists in gauging viability of original business concepts.
The Grove City College VentureLaunch program, sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation, affords student-run businesses the opportunity to grow and explore new opportunities with the support of coaches, mentors, and pre-approved expense reimbursements. VentureLaunch is the perfect program to help small, student-run businesses scale and reach their fullest potential.
VENTURELAUNCH
The “elevator pitch” is a frequently used term which means “tell me about your new venture within the time it would take to ride up an elevator.” The goal of the Elevator Pitch Competition is to teach students of all majors to communicate effectively and allow their charisma and positive characteristics to shine through in just a short pitch. The Elevator Pitch Competition demonstrates the networking and presentation skills essential to any entrepreneur or business professional. Ideas may be at any stage of development — from creation of concepts to an established venture.
ELEVATOR PITCH COMPETITION
Academy Activate is a one-day event held in New York City for aspiring leaders seeking to create a redemptive vision and strategy for their vocation. It’s an opportunity for our students to explore how the ideas of redemptive entrepreneurship might shape your own vocation call — all in community with like-minded entrepreneurs and builders. This event brings together a community of next-gen leaders to encounter a vibrant community of redemptive ideas, ventures, exemplars, and opportunities.
There is no one right way to start a venture. Therefore, the path to success in the real world entails competing with teams who use many different approaches to achieve the same goal: funding. The Wolverine Venture Battle (WVB) simulates the real world by allowing teams to compete for prize money without the confines of a cumbersome and administratively heavy business plan competition. The Wolverine Venture Battle is open to both social and commercial teams.
Venture U is a spring seminar series that focuses on hot topics in business. The sessions include focus areas of interest such as legal, accounting, marketing, websites, financials, and design, etc. Venture U seminars are open to students of all majors.
VENTURE U
The E+I Fellows program, presented by the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation at Grove City College (E+I), is a unique opportunity for students to hone their skills, build their résumé, and support amazing organizations vetted by E+I. Students who are accepted to participate in the program work with these organizations to further their mission and are paid for their work by and employed by E+I.
E+I FELLOWS
Become an innovator and launch your own startup at the world’s largest study abroad startup program. Experience an innovation journey starting from team formation to pitching to investors. EIA gives you the resources, mentors, and connections you’ll need to unleash the entrepreneur inside you. EIA has 650+ participants and over 100 mentors and speakers from companies like Alchemist Accelerator, Air BnB, Facebook, Google, Adobe, and Microsoft. This is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in entrepreneurial thinking while spending three weeks in an incredible location abroad!
EUROPEAN INNOVATION ACADEMY
During Homecoming each year, the entrepreneurship program hosts Venture Village, the largest tent on the Quad, to celebrate entrepreneurship in all of its forms. Student- and alumni-run companies are featured, in addition to projects from different classes in the entrepreneurship department. Every year hundreds of alumni and friends of the college come through the tent, creating a huge opportunity for the businesses being featured to earn revenue or raise money for a charity of their choice.
VENTURE VILLAGE
Your gift supports the growth and influence of the Center of Entrepreneurship + Innovation and fortifies the entrepreneurial community at Grove City College as we develop leaders of the highest proficiency ready to advance the common good.
Give to the center
The idea that “there’s gotta be a better way” is central to entrepreneurship. At Grove City College, we draw inspiration from the work of Praxis in the realm of redemptive entrepreneurship and seek to teach students how to practice creative restoration through sacrifice in the venture-building process. Read about redemptive entrepreneurship in this issue of the GēDUNK, the Grove City College Alumni Magazine.
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