Angell Center wins top honor among MBA entrepreneurship programs

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University's Babcock Graduate School of Management took first place in the National Model MBA Program during the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) annual conference on Jan. 26, 2003 in Hilton Head, SC.

The Angell Center highlighted its Family Business Center (FBC) and Babcock Demon Incubator (BDI), as well as the overall comprehensiveness of its entrepreneurial program, during the USASBE conference. Executive Director Stan Mandel, BDI Director Paul Briggs, and FBC Director Tom Ogburn delivered the winning presentations.

“We have a very comprehensive and integrated program,” says Mandel. “We can virtually custom-make a curriculum that complements our students’ career goals. Faculty assist students in their pursuit of careers within new venture creation, corporate entrepreneurship, family business, new venture services, and social entrepreneurship. Offering this number of paths and intensity requires significant donation of faculty discretionary time.”

The fact that nearly three-fourths of the university’s full-time MBA students take two or more entrepreneurship electives indicates the program is successful. Entrepreneur internships within the BDI, start-up companies, venture capitalists, and not-for-profit organizations also provide students with first-hand entrepreneurial work experience. “That’s what it takes to create success,” adds Mandel. “If our students didn’t have to attend class-there’s so much to do-they could still be fully engaged.”

Since its inception in 1998, the Angell Center has enhanced and added several new entrepreneurial programs. BDI, which opened in September 2001, provides Babcock School students with experiential learning opportunities. Meanwhile, it also gives nascent entrepreneurs access to faculty and student resources, office space and IS services. Start-up businesses are given 12 months to secure financing, launch and find a permanent location.

FBC provides a network of support for family owned and closely held companies. The organization hosts forums designed to address issues specific to family businesses, such as succession, tax and estate planning. FBC membership has more than doubled in the past year and now has 53 member companies.

Judges based their decision on the quality, innovativeness and uniqueness of the entrepreneurial program, as well as its effectiveness, comprehensiveness, sustainability over time and transferability to others.

Other recent Angell Center successes include:

• Named by NASDAQ as one of its five Centers of Entrepreneurial Excellence;
• Received Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership scholarships;
• Awarded the Irwin-McGraw-Hill Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award from the Academy of Management.

About USASBE

The USASBE advances knowledge and fosters business development through entrepreneurship, education and research. As an affiliate of the International Council for Small Business, it is interdisciplinary, cross functional and globally connected. USASBE is the premier network for entrepreneurship educators at all student levels, professional practitioners, entrepreneurship researchers and government policy makers.

About Angell Center for Entrepreneurship

The Angell Center for Entrepreneurship’s mission is to unite the talents of entrepreneurs, students, and faculty as stewards in the pursuit of excellence within entrepreneurial outreach, curriculum and research. The center is a partner, driving force and leader of innovation in the region's business community and a resource for students and area businesses that are striving to reach the top of their fields. From start-ups to well established, mid-sized firms, the center helps businesses grow and prosper.

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The Babcock School is ranked among the world's best graduate business schools in surveys by Business Week, the Financial Times, Forbes, U.S.News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal. Information is available at www.mba.wfu.edu.

Last updated 2/03/03