A $2 million endowment for the University of Michigan-Flint School of Management aims to grow entrepreneurship in Flint and across the state.
More than 75 people gathered Friday, Jan. 16, in the Riverfront Banquet Center for the announcement on the donation from Diplomat Pharmacy CEO Phil Hagerman and his wife, Jocelyn.
Jennifer Wenzlick, a Flint junior in UM-Flint’s School of Management, said the addition of the Center and the resources will be a great benefit to students and the community.
“You can’t really grow without entrepreneurship in your community,” said Wenzlick, who is a member of UM-Flint’s Entrepreneurship Society. “It will keep the the motivation going (in the community).”
Here’s a breakdown of what the gift means to the university and the community:
The gift would create the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation within the UM-Flint School of Management.
The funds would also create a new professor position, a new entrepreneurship and innovation major and create scholarships for students interested in entrepreneurship.
The Center will be the platform for the School of Management to launch the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management major starting in the fall of 2015. The professor hired through the endowment will be responsible for running the Center, coordinating Center related outreach efforts and encouraging faculty and student involvement.
Hagerman has a greater, long-term vision for the gift. By attracting talented, entrepreneurial-focused students to the new center, Hagerman believes that will keep more students in the area, creating projects, businesses and jobs to the community.
Hagerman said the new programs will help students take idea and turn them into realities. The center would draw creative students to Flint and teach them focus when it comes to finding new ways to solve problems and create new products and services that are needed.
Source: MEDC