Grant Supports Entrepreneurship Education

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies (IES) in the Department of Management and Quantitative Methods (MQM) at Illinois State University has received a $55,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation, Inc.   The money will be used to enhance entrepreneurship education, research and special events sponsored by IES.

The grant money will support a variety of IES programs including Entrepreneurship Day, which features high- profile speakers, a business plan competition and a creative idea competition for students. The grant will also support faculty and student travel to national entrepreneurship conferences, alumni newsletters and outreach to the entrepreneurship community. 

 "Support from the Coleman Foundation attests to the already high quality of the Illinois State University entrepreneurship program, our students and talented faculty," said Jim Jawahar, chair of the Department of Management and Quantitative Methods, who co-authored the grant proposal with IES Director, Mark Hoelscher.

The Coleman Foundation previously awarded a separate $15,000 grant to IES for the development of the Coleman Fellows Program to advance self-employment and entrepreneurship education in non-business courses at Illinois State.  Mark Hoelscher, serves as Coleman Fellows director.  Professors Klaus Schmidt and Dan Wilson, Technology Department, and Laurie Thompson Merriman, School of Theatre, are Coleman Fellows.

The Coleman Foundation, Inc., based in Chicago, is a private, independent grant making foundation that funds educational institutions offering entrepreneurship education throughout the United States.  Since 1981, it has invested more than $44 million to promote entrepreneurship as a profession.  The Foundation also supports cancer research and care organizations and Chicago-area agencies that provide services for individuals with developmental disabilities.

For additional information about the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at Illinois State University's College of Business, contact Jim Jawahar jimoham@ilstu.edu or Mark Hoelscher mlhoels@ilstu.edu or visit www.cob.ilstu.edu/ies/