The Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU-Boulder has received a $10,000 grant to support the center's summer entrepreneurship internship program for MBA students.
It is the sixth grant awarded to the center by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that aims to accelerate entrepreneurship in America.
The Deming Center is a joint program of the CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering.
"With these funds we are able to support one of the largest entrepreneurial internship programs in the country," said Kathy Simon, director of the Deming Center. "We provide stipends for students interning at early-stage companies and not-for-profit organizations. These internships give students firsthand experience in entrepreneurial environments and could lead to full-time jobs with the companies."
The grant provides stipends to MBA student interns who work for not-for-profit social service organizations and early-stage, for-profit companies. Entrepreneurial Solutions LLC, an MBA consulting company, spearheads the not-for-profit projects funded by the Kauffman Center grant.
In addition to internships funded by the Kauffman Center, the Deming Center is seeing continued interest from the business community in hiring MBAs as paid summer interns, Simon said. "This is a terrific opportunity for companies to connect with the entrepreneurship program and our students. Feedback from the CEOs tells us this program is one of the best around."
Typical internship assignments include market research and analysis; project and product management; strategic planning; financial planning; analysis and management; venture capital and investment banking modeling and analysis; new product development; and research and evaluation of new business opportunities.
CU-Boulder's entrepreneurship program was ranked 16th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in 2000 and 2001. In addition to top faculty and a rigorous curriculum, experiences beyond the classroom such as internships, mentoring opportunities and on-site company visits make this one of the top programs in the country.
The Kauffman Center was established in 1992 by Ewing Marion Kauffman, an entrepreneurial leader in pharmaceuticals. The center, based in Kansas City, Mo., is funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.