Students organize, participate in entrepreneurial summit at Innovate Newport
Students in Salve Regina’s MGT255: Entrepreneurship class recently teamed up with Innovate Newport to organize and participate in the first Rhode Island Student Entrepreneurship (R.I.S.E.) Summit at Innovate Newport. The half-day event hosted students from Salve Regina, the University of Rhode Island and Roger Williams University.
Dr. Jennifer Bonoff, assistant professor in the Department of Business and Economics, teaches the class, and her students have been working throughout the semester with Mollie Frazer Williams, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, to plan the summit.
“This was such a fantastic experience for our students to both take part in the planning of the summit as well as participate in the event itself,” Bonoff said. “Salve students had the opportunity to hear from successful entrepreneurs from a wide range of industries and network with other college students across the state with similar interests.”
The 25 students from Salve Regina who attended represent a wide variety of majors – including finance, business administration, marketing, global business and economics, elementary education and exploratory. Most were students in the entrepreneurship class.
The R.I.S.E. Summit provided students with access to workshops, flash talks, a keynote speaker and networking opportunities. It also gave students the opportunity to encourage and connect with one another in a dedicated networking space, with the main goal to support and promote collaboration among entrepreneurship programs at Rhode Island colleges and universities.
“The summit is designed to get students excited about entrepreneurship, show them the path from idea to action, and inspire them to follow their dreams,” Williams said. “By creating and supporting a pipeline of budding entrepreneurs, we can enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rhode Island.”
Innovate Newport, a coworking space and office provider, is also a community where entrepreneurs gain access to events, programming, resources, networks, mentors and potential investors.
