Carleton is hoping to expand its new entrepreneurship program and a new $1 million grant will do just that, according to a Feb. 23 university press release.
Entrepreneurs at Carleton, the University of Ottawa, La Cite Collegiale and Algonquin College will benefit from the funding, which was given to the Ottawa Young Entrepreneurs (OYE).
Carleton’s current entrepreneurship program offers students the opportunity for up to $30,000 in funding to help lead projects and present ideas to investors and alumni, according to the OYE website.
The goal of the OYE program is to help current students and recent graduates launch successful companies, according to the press release. Carleton has helped to spin off more than 150 businesses since 2009.
Last fall, Carleton also launched its new undergraduate program in entrepreneurship. Students in the commerce program now have the option of declaring their concentration in entrepreneurship. Another distinctive feature of Carleton’s program is that it’s open to all students, regardless of faculty, as a minor, he said, making it interdisciplinary in nature.
“What is great about this program is that practicum courses are designed to allow students to both plan and launch a business plan, even before graduation,” said Jerry Tomberlin, dean of the Sprott School of Business.
“In the introduction course this year, we saw 140 students register,” Tomberlin said.
For now, he said “there are eight students in the concentration and six in the minor,” but “the program has received 90 applications for next year.”
Third-year economics student Brian Chuinkman is pursuing a minor in entrepreneurship and said the only negative thing about the program is “that it was not offered sooner.”
