The new Crisp Small Business Resource Center

Matt Crisp, center, judges the second annual Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge.

ECU’s Board of Trustees has approved the establishment of the Crisp Small Business Resource Center, which will be housed in the College of Business’ Miller School of Entrepreneurship.

The mission of the Crisp Center is to provide emerging entrepreneurs from ECU and the surrounding communities access to best practices and proven knowledge for anyone who plans to start or sustain enterprises in eastern North Carolina.

The Crisp Center is possible thanks to a $1 million gift from Matt and Kim Crisp. As a Washington, North Carolina, native, Matt Crisp credits his family and his College of Business (COB) education for putting him on the path of success in both his career and life.

Matt Crisp

Now, he wants to pay it forward.

“This gift from my wife and me to the Miller School of Entrepreneurship is our small way of giving back to the eastern North Carolina business community,” Crisp said. “It is our expectation that the Crisp Center will assist aspiring entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams of starting and running successful businesses here in the area and help the local economy thrive.”

Crisp graduated from ECU with his BS Business Administration degree in 1993. He received his MBA, also from ECU, in 1996. A private investor and entrepreneur, Crisp is the founder and former CEO of eVestment and founder of Athletic Edge Sports and Fitness.

“The Crisp Center will play a significant role in connecting key assets in the Miller School with partners in eastern North Carolina and beyond,” said Dr. Mike Harris, director of the Miller School. “This will have a direct impact on the university’s mission of regional transformation.”

Specific activities that could come out of the Crisp Center include specialized research reports and grants, community workshops and executive education offerings. It will help convert curricular programs in the Miller School into actionable ideas and ventures created by students from all academic fields. Crisp Center efforts will also focus on working collaboratively across campus and with regional partners to sponsor events for both the research and business communities.

The Miller School’s annual Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge and Summer Innovation Academy will be facilitated within the Crisp Center.

“It’s our goal that pairing the Crisp Center with a high-quality academic degree program in the Miller School will allow ECU to become nationally ranked in entrepreneurship education,” Harris said.

Harris also added that ECU is one of just a few universities across the country to have a named School of Entrepreneurship (Miller) and Small Business Resource Center (Crisp).

Fielding Miller

In 2015, the Miller School of Entrepreneurship was established thanks to a $5 million gift from COB alumnus Fielding Miller and his wife, Kim Grice Miller. The school’s goal is to serve as a regional hub that prepares students to take an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set into their communities.

Miller, who is the CEO and founding partner of CAPTRUST Financial Advisors and the current vice-chair of the ECU’s Board of Trustees, says Crisp embodies the essence of both entrepreneurship and the Miller School.

“He has been extremely successful in building a great business, has employed and empowered scores of colleagues and understands the importance of paying it forward so future entrepreneurs can do the same,” said Miller. “His leadership and commitment to ECU will help drive economic progress and job creation throughout eastern North Carolina.

“I am excited to have him involved in the Miller School, and I hope his example will compel other Pirate entrepreneurs to follow his model.”

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