Enitiative offers grants for business ventures

Tuesday, September 4, 2007, By News Staff

Enitiative offers grants for business venturesSeptember 04, 2007Eileen Jevisejevis@uc.syr.edu

The Syracuse Campus-Community Entrepreneurship Initiative (Enitiative) is now accepting grant applications from entrepreneurs in the community, including nonprofit organizations, college faculty and businesses.

Awards will be granted to individuals and organizations launching entrepreneurial or innovative ventures that forge connections between college campuses and the surrounding communities. Eligible initiatives include developing a new business, advancing a unique idea or promoting new ways to forge academic/community partnerships. In addition to funding, the grants can provide entrepreneurs with hands-on assistance from professionals who have experience in entrepreneurship development.

Enitiative grants are made possible through a $3 million, five-year grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, awarded to Syracuse University and a coalition of academic and community partners. Enitiative focuses on entrepreneurship in the arts, technology and neighborhoods, and is committed to transforming campus culture with a mission that reaches beyond campuses to create economic impact in Central New York. It is another step in advancing the University’s vision of Scholarship in Action — education that is not static, but the living expression of insight that drives change.

SU’s academic and community partners in Enitiative include Cayuga Community College, Le Moyne College, Morrisville State College, Onondaga Community College, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), the Central New York Community Foundation, The Gifford Foundation, the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, Messenger Associates Inc. and National Grid.

The deadline for applications is Oct. 1. To apply for a grant and learn more about becoming a part of Enitiative, visit http://www.entrepreneurship.syr.edu or contact the ExCEL Center at Syracuse University at (315) 443-7086 or excel@syr.edu.