Welcome to the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship!
Since 2013, the Center has developed ways to inspire, educate and support both aspiring and active student entrepreneurs.
How do we do this? Through experiential learning, co-curricular programs, advisory services and programming that is designed to foster a thriving entrepreneurial community. In addition to our summer pre accelerator; ImagineU, We host community events, offer workshops and financial support for students starting their own ventures.
Regardless of your passion, or previous entrepreneurial experiences, the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship has specialized opportunities that will expose you to new ways of thinking and support your unique goals.
Mission
The Crews Center exists to inspire, educate, develop and support both aspiring and active student entrepreneurs as they pursue their dreams. While we don't believe that all students should necessarily BE entrepreneurs, we fervently believe that every student benefits from exercising an entrepreneurial mindset, which is a key element of the 21st century skill set. Because of this, the Crews Center is a resource that is open and available to students of all disciplines and majors across the University of Memphis. Whether you just want to give yourself a competitive advantage with employers by learning the entrepreneurial mindset or you want to start or grow your own business, the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship is here to help you achieve your professional goals and dreams.
Vision
We believe that EVERY student should graduate from the University of Memphis with an entrepreneurial mindset, irrespective of whether or not they intend to become an entrepreneur.
Opportunities for Students
So, you're probably thinking, "That's nice and all, but what do you actually DO? What can I expect from the Crews Center? How do I get started?"
Those are great questions! In a nutshell, we provide experiential education opportunities that allow you to actually "do" entrepreneurship. You can learn about entrepreneurship in the classroom, but you really have to do entrepreneurship in order to learn how to be an entrepreneur. There is neither one path nor one set of experiences or methods or actions that you can take to ensure success. Entrepreneurship is a wide, multi-disciplinary field with nearly endless possibilities for which you could try to prepare. What we offer you, in a nutshell, is the following:
- How to THINK like an entrepreneur
- Methods and skills for coming up with ideas and solutions that can be adapted to most industries or fields of study
- Direct mentoring and support: Brutal honesty (which you'll find in ample supply in the "real" world) coupled with unconditional positive support (which is a little harder to come by).
- Connections with the local and regional entrepreneurial support ecosystems.
These are the things that you can do NOW, while you are a student, to set yourself up for success. Whether you envision yourself as an innovator in a corporate environment or a self-employed entrepreneur in your own business or nonprofit venture.
Who We Serve
- Students that want to acquire an entrepreneurial mindset in order to be more competitive in the job market
- Students that are curious about entrepreneurship and want to learn more about it at their own pace, but don't necessarily want to start a company just yet
- Students that are new to entrepreneurship and know they want to start a company or nonprofit either during or immediately after college
- Students that already have a side (or main) hustle and want help growing their business
If these don't describe you, that's okay! We serve a LOT of students from a lot of different walks of life; these are just the most common. Come talk to us about an entrepreneurial path customized to your wants, needs, and personal goals!
Contact us at crewscenter@memphis.edu