Miller School co-hosts, sponsors regional entrepreneurship competition

Miller School student gives a presentation

The Miller School’s Dr. Dennis Barber, III, and David Mayo received a teaching grant that will complement the School’s current entrepreneurship curriculum. With the new focus on corporate entrepreneurship, student teams will be placed in 12 large, regional manufacturing companies and will make recommendations on product innovations, adjacent or vertically integrated startups, or efficiency improvements.  Entrepreneurship will be used as a tool to identify problems and create actionable solutions at these companies. The first placements for corporate entrepreneurship will take place in the fall 2019 semester.  Students will first gain a deep understanding of the industry and learn interview and active observational skills before observing on the manufacturing floor. They also will conduct interviews with management, employees, customers and suppliers to identify problems.

Companies will receive final student presentations at the end of the fall semester.

In other Miller School news

The Miller School recently co-hosted (along with Pitt Early College) and sponsored the Youth Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition, which attracted 85 middle and high-school teams from across the east to present their innovation or entrepreneurial pitch ideas. Ideas ranged from mental health awareness and social justice to physical products.  The winners took home prizes totaling $2,000 to further their ideas.

The overall winner, COB incoming freshman Hannah Sanders, won for her product Gvegas Slimes. She plans to major in entrepreneurship.