Miller School recognized internationally

ECU's David Mayo holds photo

David Mayo

It’s one thing to brag about your organization; it’s another thing when others do it for you.

For the College of Business’ Miller School of Entrepreneurship, that’s a scenario that’s become all too familiar.

First, the Miller School’s RISE29 program was honored for its co-curricular innovation by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2020.

Second, USASBE awarded the Miller School the 2021 USASBE Model Emerging Program Award, one of the organization’s four prestigious annual awards that recognizes excellence in entrepreneurship education.

Then, at the Oct. 18, 2021, Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference in Baltimore, the Miller School won the Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center (schools with more than 5,000 students) award, along with Yale University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Winners represented programs that were less than five years old.

According to David Mayo, director of the Miller School’s Crisp Small Business Resource Center and who represented the Miller School at the Baltimore event, the GCEC award is the top international award for new entrepreneurship programs.

“The two biggest organizations that represent what the Miller School does have recognized the Miller School for what it is doing,” said Mayo. “Our recent awards paint a picture that we are the best up-and-coming program in entrepreneurship.”

The Miller School is less than one week away from kicking off a program that most assuredly played a role in winning the awards: the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge. On Oct. 26, nearly 100 ECU student-led teams will start a three-round competition that will award more than $150,000 in cash and in-kind services.