The Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, in partnership with the Wake Forest University Angell Center for Entrepreneurship, hosted this month the inaugural University Entrepreneurship Summit of North Carolina, which brought together more than 100 leaders in entrepreneurship initiatives, education and research from around the state.
Gary Palin, executive director of the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, said that the summit was important because of the numerous entrepreneurship education programs and activities at universities and colleges throughout North Carolina.
“Communication between the various programs and activities is ad hoc and sporadic,” Palin said. “Many operate in isolation while addressing common issues. Awareness, communication and collaboration on a broad scale will create greater efficiencies, synergy and increased qualitative output.”
The objective of the summit was to share best practices, exchange ideas, form collaborations and to develop better integrated strategies.
“The energy and passion of the attendees was contagious. The overwhelming positive feedback convinced us to turn the University Entrepreneurship Summit into an annual event,” Palin said.
“It was soon obvious that there are some core issues that we all face and collectively we can be quite supportive. I believe all are anxious to continue this dialogue,” said Stan Mandel, executive professor & director of the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship.
Wake Forest University will host the Second Annual University Entrepreneurship Summit of North Carolina in the fall of 2009.