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\u201cWhen everyone came in that first day, they were still trying to find their place. There was a lot of stress,\u201d Brutz continues. \u201cNow everyone is finding their groove. To me, a lot of the college experience is about learning that you don\u2019t have to put on a front that you know it all. Instead, you take the resources that are available to you and improve yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cliving\u201d aspect of the Launch Pad is similar to other residence halls, but in addition to general conversations about dinner, class, and Netflix premieres, there is also an intriguing sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like that there are people I can bounce ideas off of,\u201d says Hannah Abdulhaaq, an economics major with a fashion merchandising minor from Douglasville. Like Zengo, she entered Launch Pad with some entrepreneurial experience in hand, having started a clothing resale business in high school. \u201cFor a creative person, it\u2019s great to get immediate feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the \u201clearning\u201d side, Launch Pad residents have keycard access to their own renovated co-working space off the lobby of Creswell Hall. The space is stocked with tables and stools, sofas and ottomans, snacks, a refrigerator, and a 3D printer. There are other perks too, including membership in the\u00a0Four Athens Tech Incubator<\/a>, membership in the\u00a0Society of Entrepreneurs<\/a>, and opportunities to meet one-on-one with successful entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n They also have the option of taking part in the\u00a0Idea Accelerator<\/a>, an eight-week program hosted by the Entrepreneurship Program that focuses on customer discovery. Students enter the accelerator with their ideas and have to come up with a business model, target market, and other particulars, and then present it, Shark-Tank-style, to a panel of judges. It can be humbling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt builds perseverance,\u201d says Charley Sun, a mechanical engineering major from Marietta, who went through the accelerator in the fall. \u201cIf you make it, though, your ideas become stronger, you build more of a foundation, and you end up with more confidence the next time.\u201d<\/p>\n All of this year\u2019s Launch Pad students will be living elsewhere in 2019-20, but they won\u2019t be forgetting their time on the fourth floor of Creswell anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to want to come back here in 10 years to see how it is,\u201d Davis says. \u201cThere are big things coming for this program.\u201d<\/p>\n Anyone can become an entrepreneur anytime. And an increasing number of these budding art, business, scientific, and communications leaders are finding their way at UGA.<\/p>\n The University of Georgia\u2019s\u00a0Entrepreneurship Certificate Program<\/a>\u00a0has grown from 33 students in 2015 to more than 420 students in 2018-19, and while the program is housed administratively in the Terry College of Business, it\u2019s open to students of all majors. Certificates are available at both the\u00a0undergraduate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0graduate<\/a>\u00a0levels and the comprehensive curriculum includes training to help students become future innovators in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is make sure students in the program develop the skill set and know what it takes to start their own business by themselves, wherever they are in life,\u201d says director Bob Pinckney\u00a0BBA \u201982.<\/p>\n Making entrepreneurship a certificate program was a strategic decision. Creating a major or minor would require placement in a specific college; a certificate ensures the program stays interdisciplinary. Another facet of this strategy is a new focus on entrepreneur-specific facilities like the Launch Pad and Studio 225.<\/p>\n \u201cThese facilities represent a significant investment, and they are head-and-shoulders ahead of what most any other university in the country has,\u201d Pinckney says.<\/p>\n Creswell\u2019s Launch Pad isn\u2019t the only new UGA space dedicated to entrepreneurship. The renovated UGA Student Entrepreneurship Center, Studio 225,\u00a0opened in March<\/a>\u00a0and will serve as the epicenter for student innovation. Located at 225 W. Broad St. in downtown Athens, the dynamic 11,000-square-foot space will help students of all majors cultivate original ideas, propel business startups, and engage with industry partners. It will house the Idea Accelerator, office space for faculty in the Entrepreneurship Program and steer students toward an understanding of best practices as they develop their ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be a focal point for supporting the community entrepreneurial ecosystem in Athens,\u201d says Pinckney. \u201cBy having a place where people can work alongside each other, even though they may be working on their own projects, it creates an opportunity for what we call \u2018serendipitous interactions.\u2019 You might start with one idea then pivot to another because of a conversation you had at the coffee maker. We are all stronger if we are working together.\u201d<\/p>\n Studio 225 represents the first phase of the vibrant downtown\u00a0Innovation District<\/a> that President Jere W. Morehead\u00a0JD \u201980 announced in September 2018.<\/p>\nThe Entrepreneurship Program<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Studio 225<\/span><\/h3>\n