USF St. Petersburg Wins National Award For Entrepreneurship, Innovation

Megan Hendricks | Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The entrepreneurship ecosystem in Tampa Bay is gaining even more national traction with a recent award from the United States Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship (USASBE). The College of Business at USF St. Petersburg’s (USFSP) Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation Alliance (SEIA) was recently named 2013 Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Program.

The USASBE, the largest collective group representing more than 500 universities from around the country, supports the advancement of entrepreneurship education. The honor is given to one school per year, and is awarded based on seven pillars: innovativeness, quality, potential viability, comprehensiveness, depth of support, sustainability and impact. USFSP was selected as one of three finalists, along with the University of Maryland and University of Rochester. Winning programs must be less than three years old and demonstrate considerable success through an application process and 20-minute pitch at the annual conference.

“It really resounded with the judges and the audience that we could do so much with so little, so quickly,” says Daniel James Scott, associate director of the SEIA at the USFSP College of Business.

One thing that made the program stand out is student wins. The biggest of these wins was in 2012, when a team of students won the National Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization’s CEO Startup Simulation Challenge. The challenge involved business simulations with a variety of decision possibilities, and students were asked to select their best decision. The SEIA also features a number of programs that directly connect students with the community.

“This national recognition really brings the spotlight to the region, if not the entire state,” says Maling Ebrahimpour, Ph.D., dean of the USFSP College of Business. “It helps us show students that there’s a path forward here in this region. If they come to school here, they’re able to stay here and be successful.”

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Maling Ebrahimpour and Daniel James Scott, University of South Florida St. Petersburg College of Business

Read more articles by Megan Hendricks.

A Florida native and longtime Tampa Bay resident, Megan Hendricks graduated from the University of South Florida with a master's degree in business administration. She worked at the USF College of Business and has extensive community experience including the Tampa Bay Partnership's Talent Dividend Advisory Board, Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Emerge Tampa Bay, Ekhos, and Bar Camp Tampa. She is a former board member and newsletter editor for Creative Tampa Bay. Megan enjoys telling the stories that make Tampa Bay a unique, diverse cultural experience.