The Herbert B. Jones Foundation has awarded a grant totaling $146,000 to Gonzaga University and Spokane Community College to support collaboration this fall between their respective entrepreneur programs.


The grant provides $93,000 to the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Gonzaga and $53,000 to the Avista Center for Entrepreneurship at SCC, home to the colleges integrated business and entrepreneurship (IBE) program.


Starting in October, a select number of students enrolled in the SCC program will bring their entrepreneurial ideas to Gonzagas New Venture Lab, a consulting service for startup businesses run by students as part of the Hogan program. The SCC students then will work with GU students in preparing business plans, marketing strategies, and other activities.


SCC students plans will be chosen on the basis of sophistication, identification of deliverables, maturity, and intangibles such as the applicants coachability and their commitment of time and energy. Working in teams, SCC and GU students will refine business ideas, develop budget projections, and create timelines for implementation.


This grant gives our institutions an incredible opportunity to raise the bar in entrepreneurial education, says Rick Street, an SCC IBE instructor and one of several SCC faculty members who participated in the grant application.


Tom Tilford, who directs the Hogan program, says, Im excited that our students will be able to work with SCC students planning to launch new business enterprises in Spokane. Our students will be enriched by applying their academic training to real-life ventures proposed by SCC students.


He says he expects the partnership to serve as a model for similar collaborative efforts in the future.