Rutgers Business School Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative

creative, original
adoptable, replicable
promises impact, influence
inspires, motivates change
paradigm shifting, game changing

Why is it innovative?
The Rutgers Business School Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative is aimed at first-generation entrepreneurs, helping to bring new ideas and approaches to the entrepreneurial community. The program focuses on revitalizing the city of Newark and in order to do this develops a variety of partnerships in the community, and emphasizes community development as well as economic growth.

More Information

From the Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative website:

The Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative is a comprehensive program developing entrepreneurs in the North Jersey region that invests in the human capital and social capital of first generation entrepreneurs. Selected participants receive intensive training to help them grow their business, group and 1-on-1 counseling, networking opportunities, and mentoring.

From Diverse Issues in Education, Rutgers University Helps Entrepreneurs Revitalize Newark, September 10, 2010

The center takes a broad approach to its work. It partners with nonprofits to help them develop ideas to generate more revenue. It works with homeless shelters to help better meet the needs of the destitute, partly because business owners may be reticent about relocating to a city teeming with hundreds of homeless people loitering nearby. It also explores innovations, such as melding art with business to beautify the community.

At the core of these strategies are Rutgers professors, graduate and undergraduate students, who collaborate with various foundations, corporations and governmental entities, including the city of Newark,  which has a poverty rate of about 25 percent and a median household income of $35,000, and other urban centers in New Jersey to improve the fortunes of small businesses and nonprofits.

From the Entrepreneurship Pioneers Initiative Fact Sheet [.pdf]:

The EPI program was designed for first-generation entrepreneurs. It provides the connections and resources that are more readily available to business owners who have a family history of entrepreneurship. EPI is for businesses at the growth stage. That means you’re ready to add more staff, enlarge your present location, formalize current operations, and expand your business – through mergers & acquisitions or opening a new location or franchise.