MISSION

The mission of the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute is to promote and foster entrepreneurial practices through education, outreach, and research. We seek to inspire, innovate, integrate, and implement new ways of thinking, to positively impact students, the regional economy, the state of Louisiana, and the nation.

We are a multidisciplinary institute that serves the University and the local business community, and we work closely with our partner, the Louisiana Business & Technology Center to assist in economic development and small business development-related endeavors.  A generous donation by LSU alumni Emmet and Toni Stephenson has enabled us to continue to elevate LSU's entrepreneurship and economic development programs to new heights.

PROGRAMS

The institute offers a number of programs and events designed to promote innovative approaches to identifying needs and solving problems through an entrepreneurial view of opportunity, recognition, and realization.

• Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities: Consortium that efforts to teach veterans the entrepreneurial skills they need to start their own businesses.
• Fellowships and Assistantships: Awarded to entrepreneurial-minded faculty and students.
• The LSU One Hundred: Fastest Growing Tiger Businesses: Identifies, recognizes, and celebrates the 100 fastest growing Tiger-owned or Tiger-led businesses in the world and provides a forum to pass lessons to the next generation of LSU entrepreneurs.
• New Venture Business Plan Competition: An annual event that encourages students and individuals to pursue entrepreneurial ventures and develop high-growth businesses.
• Procurement Seminar: A detailed-step approach to the federal and local acquisition marketplace for minority- and women-owned businesses.
• Women in Business: Baton Rouge's premier provider of technical assistance and networking tailored to address the issues, opportunities, and challenges faced by today's female entrepreneur.

EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS

The Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute administers various programs that provide students with the experience and networking that are essential to entrepreneurship.  Our vision is of a university community that embraces leadership in innovation, creative thinking, and development of the region to make it a better place to live and work. Our ultimate goal is to see that every individual at LSU, in any field of study, has the chance for education and experience in entrepreneurship.

Students can enhance any major degree offered by LSU's E. J. Ourso College of Business with an entrepreneurship concentration, which offers hands-on experience and coursework in launching a business by professors who have been successful entrepreneurs. Students in other Colleges can also register for coursework in entrepreneurship, if their program allows. Flores MBA  students can earn a specialization in entrepreneurship as well.

The Executive Education program offers mid-career managers an intellectually stimulating campus atmosphere where they can assess their effectiveness, update their abilities, and increase their awareness of the economic, social, and legal environments in which their companies function.

RESEARCH

The Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute supports scholarly and applied research in various fields of entrepreneurship across the LSU campus. We welcome and encourage interdisciplinary research collaborations between all LSU colleges and schools.