New UWF center boosts tie to community
Carlos Gieseken
cgieseken@pnj.com
When University of West Florida senior Meghan O'Donnell graduates in December, she will join the ranks of almost 80,000 living UWF alumni.
The university's leadership hopes the establishment of a downtown Center of Entrepreneurship as part of the UWF College of Business will persuade future grads like O'Donnell, as well as those who have moved away from the area, to join the 35,000 alums who live in and around Pensacola.
The business administration management major from DeFuniak Springs, whose post-graduate options include attending graduate school or getting a job to save up money to start a business of her own, is sold.
"Having this, it makes me want to stay here," she said of the center, which is proposed for Community Maritime Park. "I am way less likely to leave."
Thursday morning, UWF officials and Quint and Rishy Studer made the formal announcement to donors, community leaders and business leaders. The Center for Entrepreneurship will occupy a 55,000-square-foot, $10 million building proposed for the park by Quint Studer, founder of the Studer Group healthcare consulting firm, among many other ventures.
The goal is to provide classes, workshops, seminars and conferences for grade school and college students, startups, established companies and anyone else interested in learning about starting, managing or growing a business.
In addition to the $1 million seed money gift, Studer will serve as the center's entrepreneur in residence.
"On behalf of Rishy and I, we are grateful to be partnering with the University of West Florida," he said.
Tim O'Keefe, Ph.D., dean of the college of business, is most excited by the opportunity to expose students to Studer's experience, knowledge and his Rolodex of business contacts. The center will hopefully plant a seed of opportunity in all students, regardless of major, he said.
"The majority of our students at some time in their life will entertain the idea of starting their own business," he said. "You're going to have good ideas. Some of those ideas will be worth development. We want to show students there is a path to do that."
UWF President Judi Bense, Ph.D., said founding the archeology and anthropology programs at UWF in the early 1980s was a lot like getting a startup business off the ground.
"We had those beater cars. We had those checking accounts we had to watch with eagle eyes to stretch our money and pay all of our bills," she said. "It is that intensity, opportunity and that drive that kept us going."
She said the Center for Entrepreneurship will be a strong UWF connection to the community, a priority of hers in growing the archeology department and a priority when she took over as university president seven years ago.
"Connecting the college with Pensacola and Northwest Florida, that is why we were created," she said. "I think we are finally beginning to meet the goals and the mission of our university."
Studer spoke about the Pensacola Business Challenge of four years ago, where 33 businesses developed business plans in hopes of winning a $50,000 grand prize. While a handful of those that did not win went on to become successful ventures, most did not.
"Even though they had business plans and went through the process, they didn't start businesses," he said.
He described the Greater Pensacola Entrepreneurial Fund, which falls under the entrepreneurial center's umbrella.
"The Entrepreneurial Fund will help people to start a business and to find the capital to help them do that," he said.
Studer also announced an entrepreneurship conference he dubbed "Entrecon" to be held in Pensacola on Nov. 5 and 6 at a location that is to be determined. Keynote speaker will be Eric Schurenberg, president and editor-in-chief of Inc. Magazine.