In July 2016, Mississippi Valley State University was selected as one of six Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Delta region to advance entrepreneurship among their students and grow the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through the inaugural HBCU Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Initiative. The first phase of the Initiative, the MVSU Entrepreneurship “SpinUP,” will be held on January 9-11, 2017, on the University’s campus.
Registration for this free event is available online at spinuphbcu.com. Click on the link for events and select the tabs corresponding to MVSU’s event. You may also contact the Department of Business Administration on the Itta Bena campus at (662) 254-8374.
During the SpinUP, sponsored by the Delta Regional Authority, Allen Entrepreneurial Institute, and MVSU, college students, area high school students, and the community’s business owners and aspiring business owners will have an opportunity to attend a series of technical assistance workshops conducted by experts from the Allen Entrepreneurial Institute, the Entrepreneur Center at the Mississippi Development Authority, the Small Business Administration, SCORE Mississippi, and MVSU.
These rapid acceleration workshops are offered to teach aspiring and advanced student and community entrepreneurs about the skills and resources needed to launch and scale their businesses. Workshops, conducted as technical assistance labs, will cover topics including business plan development, legalization (business organization, licensing, and intellectual property), access to capitol and micro lending, marketing and selling strategies, and customer service. The workshops will be conducted from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 10, 2017, and 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2017.
One of the featured programs for the “SpinUP” will be a Pitch Competition on Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Students (college and high school) and the community are invited to participate. Two special workshops are scheduled to prepare those competing - one on Tuesday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. and a second on Wednesday afternoon from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. The winning entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas for a chance to be selected to represent their schools and the region at Founders Weekend on the Allen Entrepreneurial Institute campus in Lithonia, Georgia. Winning entrepreneurs on each campus will receive pitch practice, mentorship with successful minority entrepreneurs, business model development, and other technical assistance leading up to the Founders Weekend activities.
“Entrepreneurship is one of the strongest economic opportunities for young people in our region, and this initiative is our way of helping our region’s HBCUs invest in the entrepreneurial growth of their students and the Delta communities around them,” said Chris Masingill, federal co-chairman of the DRA.
The following schools have been selected to participate through a competitive application process:
• Grambling State University | Grambling, LA
• Mississippi Valley State University | Itta Bena, MS
• Philander Smith College | Little Rock, AR
• Rust College | Holly Springs, MS
• Southern University | Baton Rouge, LA
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | Pine Bluff, AR