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ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY AT NEW OFF-CAMPUS APEX CENTER By Jennifer Poff Cooper There’s a new home for Hokies seeking a physical location to meet, put their heads together, and receive needed support and advice for their startup companies. Virginia Tech’s Apex Center for Entrepreneurs is a 6,000-square-foot technology-enabled, posh space located above PK’s Bar & Grill at 432 North Main Street in Blacksburg. Apex opened at this new location on September 20.
The Apex Center, which is under the umbrella of the Pamplin College of Business, provides programs and support to students who want to become entrepreneurs. Apex was launched in 2014 inside a small, 500-square-foot office space in Pamplin Hall. The program has grown rapidly and is one of the reasons that the Princeton Review ranked Virginia Tech number 25 in undergraduate entrepreneurship programs last year. The concept was the vision of Robert Sumichrast, dean of the Pamplin College of Business, said Derick Maggard, Executive Director of the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs. Maggard is a Tech alum with a graduate degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering who himself had been owner of many companies. He was Executive Director of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council when Sumichrast hired him as the founding
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t NOVEMBER 2021 / vbFRONT.com
