Following the February launch of the 1 Million Cups entrepreneurial program in Springfield, Evangel University officials have jumped on board to offer a semester-long course this fall on entrepreneurship in collaboration with 1MC.
The three-credit program is funded by a $5,000 grant from Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, according to an Evangel news release. Students enrolled in the course would be engaged in the weekly 1MC presentations at the downtown eFactory, which feature two startup ideas followed by audience question-and-answer sessions.
“Our teaching about social enterprise is rooted in entrepreneurship,” said Eveline Lewis, the coordinator for Evangel’s nonprofit business and social enterprise major, in the release.
Spearheaded by business faculty members Lewis and Hona Amer, Evangel’s organizers have a larger vision.
“Next summer, Lewis and Amer will publish the design and outcomes, so the course can be replicated by universities in the 37 other cities where 1 Million Cups is operating,” said Bernie Dana, Evangel’s business department chairman, who is overseeing the program, in the release.
The Acton grant also will send Lewis and Amer to the eighth annual Free Market Forum in Indianapolis in October. According to the release, the forum at Hillsdale College is attended by some 150 faculty members from across North America.
This spring, Evangel awarded 595 degrees, including 76 bachelor’s degrees from Central Bible College, which recently merged with the university, according to a separate news release.
Springfield event venue Belamour LLC gained new ownership; The Wok on West Bypass opened; and Hawk Barber & Shop closed on a business purchase that expanded its footprint to Ozark.
