Blackstone LaunchPad Inspires Entrepreneurship at Mays Business School
The Texas A&M University – Mays Business School recently announced that the Blackstone Charitable Foundation will extend Blackstone LaunchPad, their campus entrepreneurship program, to Texas A&M and two additional universities.
Blackstone LaunchPad, thanks to a $3 million three-year grant, will increase opportunities for students at Texas A&M, The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas at Dallas, to get students involved with entrepreneurship. The three universities will work together to introduce entrepreneurship to 130,000 students, regardless of major.
The announcement of the program’s extension was made this June at the UT Dallas Visitor Center Atrium, by such speakers as Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman and CEO, and Amy Stursberg, executive director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.
“Texas has a strong business environment and is a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation,” Schwarzman said. “…we are pleased to…deliver the tools and resources to build strong enterprises rooted in the state and connected to a global network of entrepreneurs.”
The new program aims to connect the three schools, business communities throughout Texas, and local entrepreneurs to both encourage and nurture students. Texas will be the ninth region to support the Blackstone LaunchPad project, and could generate as many as 3,900 new ventures and 9,000 new jobs across the state.
Eli Jones, dean of Mays Business School, hopes that students will not only become entrepreneurs, but also be inspired to work towards furthering their local economies after forging such important regional connections.
After a successful run in Michigan, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation was recognized by President Obama’s “Startup America”, which promised to expand the program to five additional new regions in five years.
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Alanna Shaffer
Staff Writer, covering MetroMBA's news beat for Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas.
