Ball State students may soon find employment through the Indiana Venture Center, a new entrepreneurship program.
State universities are collaborating on the program designed to assist fast-growing companies, said Donald F. Kuratko, the center's founder and executive director of Ball State's entrepreneurship program.
"The center is coordinated and organized ... providing more job opportunities and keeping college graduates in the state," Kuratko said. "We are looking for brain gain, not brain drain."
Kuratko said the center, located temporarily at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, will be the one place statewide where entrepreneurs can go for support.
Also, students will have access to other schools through the center.
The Indiana Venture Center, Kuratko said, offers Ball State business students immediate work experience through part-time internships during the school year and full internships during the summer.
Kuratko said seminars may also be conducted by professors at the universities to provide students with information about the program.
During these internships, students can research with the center.
"We want both undergraduates and graduate students to have exposure to what a high-growth company is like early in their careers and have more job opportunities," said Steve J. Beck, leader of the center.
Beck left his position as executive vice president of Old National Bank in Indianapolis to work with the Indiana Venture Center. He said he saw a need for it after working with Ball State's entrepreneurship program for 16 years.
"Through the center, we hope to speed up the process of high-growth companies," Beck said. "It usually takes two to three years for a business to grow, and we're hoping to shrink the time frame to nine months."
Beck said he also wants to increase the quality of the newly hired individuals to make the businesses more successful.
"The center supports different kinds of businesses, but they concentrate on high-growth firms, which will have a higher potential for more entrepreneurial success," Kuratko said.
But the center also helps smaller firms, he said.
"The Indiana Venture Center is a conduit to recommend where the slower-growing firms should go for assistance," he said.
The schools involved include Ball State's College of Business, Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, Purdue University's Krannert School of Management, the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza School of Business and The Rose-Hulman Institute/Rose-Hulman Ventures.
"Each university's entrepreneurship center has many unique talents that are not duplicated at the university level but compliment the talents of other university centers," Kuratko said. "The Indiana Venture Center is powerful because the unique dimensions and strengths of five major universities are brought together."
The center was announced on Aug. 25 and will be opened in October.
"It will be a stand-alone corporation because all universities are equal members," Kuratko stated.
Mike Hatfield, a native of Middlebury and now a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, contributed $3 million to fund the center.
The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership also contributed $500,000 to help the venture's beginning operations.
Kuratko said the Indiana Venture Center is still new. After two years, he said, the program may be opened up to more universities in Indiana.
"At a press conference, someone said the center was a bold and daring step, Kuratko said. "Anything great is bold and daring. That's what greatness is all about."
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