The Talent Network was joined by Lori Fischer, Senior Fellow & Director of Operations at the Michigan State University Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, who spoke about the Institute’s general talent development programs, including their internship program where cohorts gain experience through consulting for student ventures, thus developing student leadership and entrepreneurship simultaneously.
RECAP
Michigan State University’s Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (The institute) is an inclusive entrepreneurial development center that empowers students from all backgrounds and majors to learn through action by providing programs, courses, and resources to foster an entrepreneurial mindset and create new ventures.
The institute offers a variety of comprehensive programs that develop students through the entrepreneurial process:
- Discovery Program: Students are guided, mentored, and assisted with research, at their own pace to reach the end goal of developing a full business plan.
- Launch Program: A competitive program where students pitch their ideas for acceptance and gain access to seed funding, website development and materials (3D printing).
Entrepreneurship spaces are accessible to students in the Institute’s programs:
- The Hatch: An office space for all students within the program that serves as an incubator space to provide a real-world feel of connection into the community.
- Entrepreneurship Lab: A space where entrepreneurship development classes and related events take place.
- Venture Kitchen: A professional kitchen where students get access to commercial grade kitchen to test recipes and distribute under the MSU license.
The institute also implements entrepreneurial ecosystem building by providing access to different events, such as SXSW, utilizing interns from different MSU programs to assist in the Institute’s programs and providing resources to MSU alumni.
About the Speaker
Lori Fischer’s passion lies in supporting student venturers, their startups, and fostering entrepreneurial education that empowers venture creation activities across Michigan and beyond. Lori has been working with Michigan State University entrepreneurs since 2012; today, she is the Burgess Institute’s Director of Operations. Her mission: Cultivate and support a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem at MSU and across Michigan.
Together with the Institute’s team, MSU’s entrepreneurship program has been recognized by the Princeton Review as one of the top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship programs in the country. For two years in a row, the Burgess Institute has received global acclaim at the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurial Centers conference. These achievements would not be possible without the ambition and dedication demonstrated by Spartans. These innovators, thinkers, and doers come to the entrepreneurship program from across all academic disciplines.