News Article

Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program has received two grants totaling $69,500 from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation of Seattle to foster entrepreneurship in the Inland Northwest.

Of the total, $20,000 will support the Hogan Program’s annual business plan competition – held in collaboration with Eastern Washington University’s Center for Entrepreneurial Activities and Whitworth College’s School of Global Commerce and Management – each of the next three years. These funds will be matched by community sponsors to reach the $42,500 total awarded annually in three competition categories: student-generated (for original student ideas); community-based (for community entrepreneur ideas); and social enterprise (for nonprofit ideas).

A record 44 teams from the collaborating institutions and Washington State University submitted plans in the 2005-2006 competition. Major community sponsors were Itron, which sponsored the $10,000 first place student-generated award named the “Itron Knowledge to Shape Your Future Award”; and Avista, which named the $7,500 first place social enterprise award the “Avista Social Impact Award.”

The Herbert B. Jones Foundation has been a major sponsor of the Hogan Program’s business plan competition since 2003 and first provided the seed funds for the collaboration among Gonzaga, EWU and Whitworth in 2005. The foundation also awarded the Hogan Program $9,500 to support a new experiential learning course for juniors and seniors of any major to be offered at Gonzaga in 2006-2007, called “New Venture Lab.” The New Venture Lab is a student-run idea incubator that pairs students with community entrepreneurs and provides feasibility analyses, market research and business planning services for start-up ventures. Last year the Lab served 19 projects and some 90 students campuswide participated in Lab activities.

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program is a four-year undergraduate concentration founded on the Jesuit educational philosophy of educating the whole person. Its purpose is to prepare students to create new ventures that make a positive difference in society. This student-centered program is designed for promising individuals who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, creativity and a commitment to serve others.

The Hogan Program embraces students from all academic majors, tailoring the entrepreneurial curricula to complement students’ major fields of study, and providing them with the concepts, tools, and experiences to responsibly create successful new commercial and social enterprises. For more information, contact Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program Director Tom Tilford at (509) 323-7039 or via e-mail at tilford@gonzaga.edu or visit the Program Web site at www.gonzaga.edu/entrepreneur