Two UM-Flint Programs Receive Grants

The Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (MIIE) has announced 20 entrepreneurship grants totaling $1.3 million, bolstered with $2.2 million in matching funds from universities and private businesses. Two of the grants went to University of Michigan-Flint projects. MIIE builds on Michigan's universities as economic assets by speeding the commercialization of university research while promoting a culture of entrepreneurial risk-taking. The initiative partners Michigan's philanthropic resources with university and private business resources to help launch new startup companies, and strengthen ties between small business, industry and academia.

UM-Flint Grants:

The School of Management (SOM) received $76,500. The grant will be used to hire a fulltime entrepreneur-in-residence who will teach existing entrepreneurship courses while working with other faculty members to develop new courses that may lead to the creation of undergraduate- and graduate-level entrepreneurship programs. Students will engage in entrepreneurial activities outside the classroom, as well.

The Launch Pad received a $45,000 grant. This program will help stimulate the

creation of student-owned businesses in Genesee County. With strong programs in

engineering, computer science, management nursing and other key fields, there is

fertile ground to help students see themselves not just as future employees but as entrepreneurs.

The goal of MIIE is to create 200 new Michigan start-ups over the next decade, while fostering an atmosphere of entrepreneurship on campuses around the state. The MIIE consortium will raise and distribute $75 million over the next seven years — mainly through donations from some of the more than 2,200 philanthropic foundations across the state — and match those funds with resources and funding from universities and private businesses.