Entrepreneurship
Are you a risk-taker with a great idea for a new product or service? Then you've come to the right place. The Western New England University Entrepreneurship major can help you turn your big idea into a working business, or new product for an existing company. From unique courses and collaborations with our College of Engineering to alliances with the business community, we provide the proving ground to help you realize your dream of one day owning your own business or working as an innovator within a corporation.
Why Choose Entrepreneurship?
Western New England University is a highly entrepreneurial community, encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation across its diverse range of programs. Business students may participate in collaborative courses and ventures with students from the Entrepreneurship Club and in projects such as the 3 Day Start-up, a 72-hour learning-by-doing event that teaches entrepreneurial skills to University students in an extreme hands-on experience.
What Will You Study?
At our AACSB International accredited University, you can study toward two career paths: entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial (a path for students looking to be innovators within a corporation) and take courses ranging from Venture Feasibility to Business Law for Entrepreneurs. Through this cross-disciplinary Product Development and Innovations course, teams of engineering and business students collaborate to turn ideas into marketable products, including several that have been patented. Our teams have competed at the annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers Innovation Showcase (IShow) and placed in the top 10 four times. To-date students have been awarded more than $33,000 from the Grinspoon Spirit Awards for their entrepreneurial ideas.
Career Opportunities
Entrepreneurship majors are prepared to found and operate their own businesses or work as intrapreneurs within larger organizations that employ a competitive strategy of innovation. The principles and techniques students majoring in entrepreneurship will learn will be equally applicable to entrepreneurial opportunities in business, government, social, and academic organizations that are attempting to grow via innovation. Specific intrapreneurial job titles may include marketing managers; product, brand, or program managers; customer services managers; planning or innovation managers; and any position involving the creation and management of change.
Clubs & Organizations
Entrepreneurship students may have interests in: Entrepreneurship Club, Alpha Lambda Delta (First-year honor society), Alpha Kappa Psi (Professional business fraternity), and Beta Gamma Sigma (Honor Society). Many of our students also participate in varsity and intramural sports, special interest groups, and student government.
Faculty
Entrepreneurship is a cross-disciplinary major based on student learning-by-doing, faculty team teaching, and the creation of innovations by small teams. You'll study under professors from a variety of disciplines at the College of Business and also faculty from the College of Engineering, including accounting, business information systems, engineering, finance, law, management, and marketing.
AACSB International
The best business schools in the world are accredited by AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Western New England University is the only private institution in western Massachusetts accredited by AACSB International and among fewer than 5% of business schools in the world to hold this accreditation.
Unique Learning Opportunities
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Internships and Field Work
Entrepreneurship students are able to intern for a variety of companies, including Authen FOOD; High Peaks Winery; LEGO Systems, Inc.; Mestek, Inc.; Nassau County Assessment Review Commission; SCORE; Envision Marketing Group; and Z Wraps. Our students have also interned for organizations that support entrepreneurship and small business development such as Valley Venture Mentors, SCORE (the nation's largest, network of free, expert business mentors), and the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center.
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The SAP Certification Advantage
SAP, the Enterprise software, is part of our core business education of how today's businesses are run. SAP is used by companies such as SunPower for talent management, the San Francisco 49ers to enhance fan experience, and Proctor & Gamble for real-time analytics. Students receive SAP certification, which expands career options.
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Study Abroad: View Business From a Global Perspective
Today’s competitive workforce needs business professionals who think from a global perspective. The College of Business will help you to become a student of world economies and cultures while making valuable contributions in your explorations. Whether you participate in a faculty-led summer seminar course or spend a semester at an international university, the experience will broaden your horizons and help you compete in the global landscape.
Study Abroad
