Stimulating Innovation & Entrepreneurship
The mission of the Innovative Enterprises Program (IEP) is to:
Inspire and grow student-faculty expertise, research, and innovation into financially healthy first-class quality projects and businesses that invigorate the local community and impact the world.
In the parable of the talents, the master rewards the servant that generated the greatest return with what he was given. It is the prayer and hope of the IEP that with Jesus at the center, students will be able to discover their "talents," pool them with others, and jointly leverage those talents in service to a hurting world.
Keys to complete this mission are:
- Imbue a spirit of entrepreneurship that converts innovative ideas into real-world solutions
- Growing a new business incubator
- Form partnerships with local area businesses, alumni, industry, and other universities
- Provide business consulting services
- Ensure all activities are interdisciplinary in nature, reaching all academic areas
- Inculcate entrepreneurship in all facets of the curriculum
The IEP already has already involved several young student entrepreneurs, is funding the first product to be developed from Taylor research (an Electronic Chaos Circuit), and has initiated a Taylor Entrepreneurship Club. The IEP is seeking quality ideas from inside and outside Taylor that can be incubated into new ventures.
This May 2006, Taylor hosted its second Business Plan Competition and awarded funding to several quality start-ups. The IEP is able to assist several groups of clients:
- Students: the IEP mentors undergraduate students and guides their ideas through the proper steps to starting their own companies
- Faculty: helping faculty turn the intellectual property derived through their research into products
- Local Community: new ventures and small business in the area who need consulting assistance