Wake Forest Schools of Business recognizes its responsibility to the community and strives to serve the needs of area businesses and industries beyond providing business education. In addition, our commitment to community outreach results in specialized programs with thousands of dollars in donations and hours of service time.

Centers & Institutes

Wake Forest Schools of Business provides a wealth of resources that open the doors to a variety of business and community environments. They include:

Angell Center for Entrepreneurship- The mission of the Angell Center is to unite the talents of entrepreneurs, students, and faculty as stewards in the pursuit of excellence within entrepreneurial outreach, curriculum and research.

Babcock Demon Incubator - The Babcock Demon Incubator’s mission is to increase the number and quality of growth-oriented early stage ventures in the Triad, support the growth of the Piedmont Triad Research Park, support the commercialization of university developed intellectual property, and deliver experiential educational opportunities to students.

BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism - The BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism was established in 2008 through a contribution from the BB&T Charitable Foundation.  The goal of the Center to encourage the examination of capitalism vis à vis competing economic systems, the philosophical foundations of capitalism, its impacts on society, and its relation to current social and political issues.  Furthermore, the Center seeks to promote the study of capitalism across all disciplines at Wake Forest University in order to broaden awareness beyond its traditional conceptions and connotations.  By engaging students, professors, and the public with open forums, debates, lectures, and research, the Center strives to be at the forefront of the study of capitalism, resulting in superior preparation for informed decision-making by those who enter into positions of leadership in business, government and society.  We strive to maintain the highest level of scholarship by encouraging the involvement of those from all political and philosophical affiliations.

Center for Retail Innovation - The Center for Retail Innovation (CRI) is a unique alliance of manufacturers, channel partners and retailers combined with faculty and students at the Wake Forest University Schools of Business. It has been developed to lead change in retail marketing and help the industry stay ahead of its consumers by offering a new model that combines retail marketing and data analytics through partner collaborations. The Center's goal is to generate a powerful return on investment through three outcomes: innovation, education, and collaboration.

Outreach & Initiatives

Pro Humanitate. It's more than a motto. It's a way of living, learning, and teaching that is grounded in the spirit of giving. We celebrate the ways in which the students and faculty of Wake Forest University Schools of Business are continually finding new and more meaningful ways to make an impact on their community.

The Wake Forest Schools of Business are proud of their strong tradition of community service. Each year students donate thousands of dollars and countless hours to charitable organizations in the community.

Recent events organized by our students have included:

• An annual charity auction, which raises thousands of dollars for such organizations as the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Ronald McDonald House, the Enrichment Center and Brenner Children’s Hospital
• Clothing drives benefiting people ranging from tsunami victims in Asia to the homeless in Winston-Salem
• A school-wide blood drive that inspired 10 potential donors to register for the National Bone Marrow Program

Other volunteer efforts have benefited the American Red Cross, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Boys Camp, Cancer Services, Habitat for Humanity, Hospice, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina, Special Olympics of North Carolina, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure, Toys for Tots, UNICEF and the United Way.

The Schools of Business also contributes to the local community with initiatives that go beyond fundraising & volunteering. The Leadership Speaker Series brings outstanding business and government leaders to the area to speak about topics relevant to businesses throughout the community. The Wake Forest Community Law & Business Center allows law students and graduate business students to assist local businesses in need of counseling.

Schools of Business students' commitment of service extends to the larger global community as well. Through initiatives such as Project Nicaragua, our students are providing valuable services to small businesses across the United States and abroad.

Student Competitions

Our students are competitive, but they’re also cooperative leaders, organizing and running national competitions like the ones listed below. They recruit nationally known speakers, oversee logistics and scores of necessary details, and manage significant budgets. It's all part of learning through experience.

Wake Forest "Retail Innovation Challenge" Elevator Competition

The Wake Forest "Retail Innovation Challenge" Elevator Competition allows 20 student teams from schools around the world to pitch retail innovation ideas to industry executives while literally riding in an elevator. Students will also have the opportunity network with executives from major industry players throughout the Retail 2020 Conference. This is a place where the world’s best corporate retail innovators meet the world’s best student innovators.

For more information: elevator@mba.wfu.edu

Marketing Summit

A premier three-part event that features an undergraduate challenge, an MBA case competition and a marketing forum.

• Undergraduate Challenge-- undergraduate students are given one month to submit a written solution to a pressing issue facing a world-class sponsor. Winning teams will be invited to attend the MBA case competition as the sponsor's V.I.P. guests.
• MBA Case Competition-- the most brilliant MBA and undergraduate minds have only 36 hours to solve current, cutting-edge challenges that face an industry-leading sponsor.
• Marketing Forum-- features some of the most influential corporate and academic marketing minds discussing marketing initiatives in the marketplace.

For more information: marketingsummit@mba.wfu.edu

Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition

The Biotechnology Conference and Case Competition brings together some of the brightest and most creative minds from outstanding MBA and graduate programs across the country to discuss business strategies and problems currently facing the industry. During the two-day event, students meet with industry leaders, hear from keynote speakers and a case competition is held, where student teams present solutions to an actual business problem facing a company in the industry.

For more information:biotech@wfu.edu

“The Wake Forest Center for Retail Innovation provides a unique combination of knowledge creation, channel partner collaboration, and leader cultivation, something not found anywhere today.”

Steve Reinemund,
Dean of Business Wake Forest University, Retired Chairman/CEO - PepsiCo