My urban entrepreneurship course prepares students to deliver game changing business innovation and solutions for urban communities. I developed this course and have been teaching it since 2015. The course pairs teams of talented students with entrepreneurs who have developed or are developing an urban-focused business. The students benefit greatly by working with an actual entrepreneur (Urban Entrepreneur Partner) who is working to address an important community need. The Urban Entrepreneur Partners benefit by having enthusiastic, talented U-M students helping to document, evaluate and improve their business model.
This year, for the first time, we are planning to engage Urban Entrepreneur Partners from regions in addition to Southeast Michigan. This includes the possibility of engaging entrepreneurs in other U.S. cities as well as other countries. We believe this change will provide exciting opportunities for students to understand the global nature and opportunities of urban entrepreneurship.
The Covid-19 pandemic presents us with some challenges, but also with some exciting opportunities. Unlike previous editions of the course, our Urban Entrepreneur partners will not have to visit the classroom in Ann Arbor. We will conduct most, if not all of our interactions with the Urban Entrepreneur Partners and other community stakeholders via the internet. Each Urban Entrepreneur Partner should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week working with their assigned student team. The partners’ engagement with the course will begin in mid-September and will end just before Thanksgiving.
You can review a synopsis of the course syllabus here. If you are interested in partnering with the upcoming edition of the Urban Entrepreneurship course, please let me know by return e-mail. Upon receiving your indication of interest, we will provide further, more detailed information. Also, we will hold an informative Zoom session about the class on Wednesday, August 12, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm EDT.
If you are interested in participating in this one-of-a-kind opportunity, please let me know by return e-mail (wdtarver@umich.edu). If you know of an urban entrepreneur who would be a good fit for this opportunity, please provide a brief description of their business along with contact information