Xavier University is the proud recipient of a 3M Foundation Vision Grant. The grant, which totals $50,000, will be used to create the Xavier/Evanston Small Business Collaborative. The collaborative will partner Xavier students with the Evanston Business Association to revitalize Evanston’s Montgomery Road business corridor, which borders the University. The effort is part of a comprehensive community revitalization partnership between Evanston and Xavier that is being funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).Under the business program, MBA students will take two courses, the first on market research and the second on venture planning. Through these courses, students will collect data and examine attitudes toward the Montgomery Road corridor and then combine those findings with business assessments to create startup business plans for the area. The courses will begin in summer 2006. A symposium, including students and business owners, will be held to discuss strategies. The project will be led by Dr. Sherrie Human, Castellini Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies and Dr. Chris Manolis, associate professor of marketing.
“In line with Xavier University President Michael J. Graham’s, vision for community engagement, the collaborative moves the classroom out into the community and brings the community into the classroom,” says Dr. Ali Malekzadeh, Dean of the Williams College of Business, whose management and entrepreneurship, and marketing departments are involved in the initiative. “Rather than working through case studies, students will be engaging with actual consumers and business owners as they address the critical and unique issues facing urban markets.”
The findings will be entrusted to the Evanston Business Association, which will be responsible for coordinating future recruitment and technical support, with ongoing cooperation from business students and faculty. The HUD Community Outreach Partnering Center (COPC) grant provided to Xavier allows for the business association to hire a part-time graduate assistant to carryout this oversight for the next three years.
Community partners are the volunteer-based Evanston Business Association and Evanston Community Council, the citizen-led Community Problem-Oriented Policing Team, and the non-profit Community Redevelopment Group.
Technical support is being provided by the Community Building Institute, a partnership between Xavier and the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, which is managing the COPC grant. The grant is funding a broader Evanston-Norwood-Xavier Community Partnership, whose five initiatives include revitalizing the business corridor.
The 3M Vision Grants are designed to foster innovation in private colleges by supporting new, academically based initiatives that fundamentally transform the basis of learning.
“We are pleased to recognize these colleges for creating visionary programs that move theory into practice by taking learning beyond the classroom and into the community,” says Alex Cirillo, staff vice president, 3M Community Affairs and Workforce Diversity. “The 3M Foundation is committed to supporting innovative approaches to learning that bring colleges and communities together to address community issues.”
For more information, please contact Marky Kochlefl at 513-745-4279.
