By Matt Morris
There is a new “IDEA” circulating on campus that some University of Louisville students have developed to help prepare students for their upcoming business ventures, but it’s not an organization for business students only.
Patrick Migliore and others from different colleges within the university have come together to create a new campus-wide student organization known as the Interschool Development of Entrepreneurship Association, or “IDEA” for short. This new student organization has been designed to aid in the development of aspiring entrepreneurs through lectures given by prominent professionals within the Louisville area, as well as workshops and panels aimed at stimulating important talents key to entrepreneurship.
IDEA is looking for members to come not only from the business school, but also from the medical school, law school, and speed school. Migliore, one of the founders and also the president of the organization, said: “The primary strategy of the IDEA is to provide a common forum in which the many talented people from the business school, medical school, law school, and Speed School and others can come together to create intellectual synergies that inspire new venture creation.” Migliore added, “Realizing that our greatest assets are our members, we have structured all activities to focus exclusively on the personal and intellectual growth of our budding entrepreneurs.”
The IDEA is up and running and quickly gaining support from community corporations and organizations including Metacyte, a non-profit corporation that assists startup companies, and The Enterprise Corporation, a division of Greater Louisville Inc. that supports organizations in hopes of promoting entrepreneurship in the Louisville area, as well as others. By interacting with these affiliates and guest speakers, the IDEA offers members an opportunity to establish business relations with community leaders and business experts that could prove beneficial to them in the coming years.
As of now, the IDEA is seeking industrious members who want to learn about the skills that are necessary for today’s entrepreneur to be successful in their coming business endeavors. The meetings for the IDEA vary, as the group adjusts their schedule around the speakers they invite. To get more information on IDEA, Migliore encourages anyone interested to email him at pjmigliore@louisville.edu or visit their website at (www.louisville.edu/rso/IDEA). Migloire and the founders of the IDEA hope that “members will bring prestige and notoriety to the University of Louisville through their innovation and success.”
