Xavier's Entrepreneurial Center

Xavier Graduate and Undergraduate students of all majors: Do you have a business idea worth funding?

Through our teaching, research, and outreach we develop entrepreneurial leaders who seek opportunities, act resourcefully, think creatively, and lead ethically to make a difference in their organizations and in the world.

Distinguished Entrepreneurship and Innovation Speaker - Karen Wells

On Thursday, March 26, Karen Wells, Vice President of Strategy and Menu for McDonald’s USA, LLC, met with 50 undergraduate entrepreneurship students from Dr. Rashmi Assudani’s Creativity and Innovation class and Joe Carter’s New Venture Planning class. The primary focus of the discussion was on how McDonalds deploys innovation, from initial concept to successful implementation and restaurant capability execution across 14,000 restaurants nationwide. Karen emphasized throughout the discussion the importance of understanding the needs of the customer as the basis for their innovation process.

Business Plan Competition at NKU

Two teams from Xavier represented the Williams College of Business at a five-college, undergraduate business plan competition at NKU on January 29, 2010. The teams included Service Opportunities Worldwide (Victoria Page, Mike Renner, Michael Anderson, Nick Gumley, Hudson Chilton) and EkoBox (Carter Johnson, Henry Link, Megan (MJ) Jacobs, Tori Miller, Susan Liauba).

The EkoBox (represented by Carter Johnson and Henry Link) won 1st prize for an elevator pitch, and received an award of $1000.

Carter Johnson and Henry Link from the EkoBox team receiving their award.

Business Plan Selection Competition at XU

The Sedler Family Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation conducted a business plan competition to select the two teams that would represent the Williams College of Business at a five-college, undergraduate business plan competition. A panel comprised of faculty and executive advisors assessed each team’s detailed business plan (inclusive of financials) and their executive presentation.

Two teams moved on to the January 29, 2010 competition: Service Opportunities Worldwide (Victoria Page, Mike Renner, Michael Anderson, Nick Gumley, Hudson Chilton) and EkoBox (Carter Johnson, Henry Link, Megan (MJ) Jacobs, Tori Miller, Susan Liauba).

Other participating teams were Pisces of the World (Camiel Hampton, Dominique Shank, Ashley Pierre-louis, Fabiola Arce) and Cincinnati Hostel (Megan Tracey, Alex Burkhart, Chris Verst, Patrick Slagle).

The members of the judging panel included Ginny Frings, Al Cates, Bill Kelleher, David Main, and George Gordon.