UNH Entrepreneurship Center Receives National Recognition for Its Growth

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

DURHAM, N.H. –The University of New Hampshire's Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) won the “2017 Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center Award” from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC). The award honors an outstanding new entrepreneurship center that is five years old or less; the ECenter opened in January 2016. 

“I accept this award on behalf of the entire UNH team, alumni supporters, and the passionate idea-driven students who I get to work with every day,” said Ian Grant, director of the ECenter. “It is an honor to be recognized by our peers for the work we have accomplished in only two years. It has always been about helping students, faculty, and alumni become problem-solvers and idea creators first, and then supporting them as they take those ideas to the next level. We provide an exciting co-working facility for students to interact with each other, as well as fundamental engagement opportunities and innovative programs like i2 Passport, which rewards students for exploring ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship with the ability to win $25,000 in cash prizes to help pay off student loans and tuition.”

The GCEC represents the best entrepreneurship centers across the globe with more than 250 members in 15 countries. “This award category was the most competitive with nearly 25 submissions,” said Brad Burke, executive director of Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. “We are pleased to recognize the progress made by UNH in a very short period of time.” GCEC member institutions include University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rice University, Babson University, UCLA, and Northwestern.

“I want to thank Peter Paul '67 for providing the seed funding to start the ECenter and his commitment to help support our continued growth going forward,” said Grant. “Likewise, we are appreciative for Harry Patten's ('58) support for i2 Passport and the Paid Student Internships at Start-ups Programs, as well as all of the UNH alumni who donate mentor time and funding through the Wildcatalysts Network. We have only just started on the journey to create an even more dynamic culture of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH.”

The ECenter is intentionally independent of any one college on campus. Its goal is to continue building the positive and supportive ideas/innovation/entrepreneurial culture by creating opportunities for engagement through new co-curricular programming, as well as supporting existing academic, student, university, and independent initiatives.

The University of New Hampshire is a flagship research university that inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top ranked programs in business, engineering, law, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. UNH’s research portfolio includes partnerships with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, receiving more than $100 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space. 

Above: Ian Grant, director of the University of New Hampshire's Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) accepts the  “2017 Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center Award” from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC).

Erika Mantz| Communications and Public Affairs | erika.mantz@unh.edu