StartUpUMW Graduates Seven New Entrepreneurs Fredericksburg, VA: On Monday, December 3 rd, at 3:00 p.m. StartupUMW, a program of the University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development, hosted its 5 th Pitch Event. Six students pitched their businesses to an audience of business owners, UMW faculty, and former graduates of the program. Each student had five minutes to demonstrate the feasibility and quality of their concept, including their market research, competitive analysis, clearly defined model and opportunity. StartupUMW is an entrepreneur education program for UMW students. It is designed for entrepreneurial students who run a small business, have a business idea, or would like to learn about entrepreneurship and how to create an enterprise. It is a collaboration between the UMW Center for Economic Development, local Fredericksburg business owners, UMW faculty, and students. Each week during the semester long program, a small business owner from the local community shares their story to the class while incorporating the specific topic the students learn that day. Topics include market opportunity, solution ideation, customer and value identification, crafting a customer experience, business modeling, and pitch preparation. University of Mary Washington Alumna, Kelsey Whitman ’14, founded StartupUMW in 2016 to give students the opportunity to earn experiential credit and turn their passions into business concepts. “StartupUMW is a way that I could give back to the University that gave me so much,” says Whitman, UMWEagleWorks and StartupUMW Manager. “Each semester I am more impressed and more optimistic about the entrepreneurial culture and the potential that exists among the student body and I love watching this group of students grow with all the support of the local community.” Since 2016, 39 students have completed the program, and 14 students have launched their businesses. Three graduates are working on launching theirs soon. Through this networking opportunity, 10 internships were provided and 4 students secured jobs. Enrollment for the 2019 Spring Semester has started and the deadline to apply is January 18 th. Click here to learn more. UMW Center for Economic Development
The University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development is in the College of Business, an AACSB accredited business school. The Center for Economic Development operates the UMW Small Business Development Center, the EagleWorks Business Incubation Center, the Government Contracting Assistance Center, and StartUpUMW. The Center is located at the Eagle Village Executive Offices. Learn more at https://economicdevelopment.umw.edu/. 1125 Jefferson Davis Highway, suite 400 Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Economicdevelopment.umw.edu