Entrepreneurial Support

An entrepreneur is an individual who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerale initiative and risk.  

Entrepreneurship is the act of creating a business while building and scaling the business to generate a profit.

EVMS supports entrepreneurship in several ways.  

• We provide the The EVMS Research Greenhouse Process.
• We sponsor and participate in the Norfolk Innovation Corridor project.
• We sponsor and support the 757 Collaborative, which includes the 757 Accelerate, 757 Startup Studios, and 757 Angels activities.
• We hold periodic meetings to engage students, staff and faculty.
• We introduce students, staff and faculty to potential partners and funding courses.
• We support students, staff and faculty through the ideation-to-launch process, as needed.

EVMS is part of the coordinated regional effort to create a viable entrepreneurial ecosystem. Relevant regional activities and resources include:

• StartWheel
  • StartWheel's mission is to centralize and mobilize efforts that foster the growth of entrepreneurism in our regional innovation economy. We aim to guide and cultivate an entrepreneurial network where talent, resources information and leadership come together. Sign up for its newsletter here.
• 757 Accelerate
  
  • 757 Accelerate is a selective startup accelerator program providing founders with capital, connections and customers. It provides $20,000 in capital to selected startups without taking equity; it connects founders with customized mentors, investors, support services, working space and a lean startup education; and it provide an intensive three-month program to engage with real customers, validate the product and test the business model. The accelerator is tied into the Global Accelerator Network.
• Reinvent Hampton Roads
  • Reinvent Hampton Roads is creating a regional strategy that embraces both the traditional and emerging employment sectors in Hampton Roads. They seek to improve the region's economic profile by attracting new entrepreneurs, innovative industries, and high-paying employment opportunities. 
  • The life-sciences regional cluster is a difficult cluster to define. The most appropriate definition is to only include biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. This omits all of the local-serving health practice activity. So, while the region is actively growing its healthcare workforce, it is not growing a life-science cluster. In reality, the region will have to enhance the set of assets necessary to compete nationally in life science. Those ingredients include increasing the amount of federally funded research organizations in the region receive from agencies like National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation and expanding workforce training in life-science research.
• Norfolk Innovation Corridor
  
  • The Norfolk Innovation Corridor (NIC) is an area paralleling the Elizabeth River Trail that stretches from Norfolk State University to Old Dominion University, including the Eastern Virginia Medical School/Sentara/Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Fort Norfolk, Downtown Norfolk, the Neon Arts District and the Harbor Park area.
  • Under state law, it is designated as a “technology zone”, enabling qualifying startup firms and firm expansions to receive certain tax incentives, in addition to enjoying the other advantages of setting up business where physical, networking and economic assets are so densely clustered. The NIC serves to attract and retain technology companies while serving as a magnet for a talented and diverse workforce.
• Greater Norfolk Corporation
  • The Greater Norfolk Corporation (GNC) seeks to participate in the Economic revitalization and development of the City of Norfolk by marshaling the resources of the private sector in support of the City and its agencies.
  • The GNC supports the development of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and is sponsoring the development of an Innovation Corridor along the Elizabeth River Trail.  
• Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Old Dominion University
  • IIE is a one-stop shop for the community, students, faculty/staff and alumni seeking resources and services for innovation, entrepreneurship, and new enterprises and programs. We help build lasting relationships between the community, industry and academia to improve society and the economy. 
  • IIE serves two important roles:
    • Act as the liaison between the university, community and industry to advance entrepreneurial endeavors, and;
    • Assist in strengthening the innovation ecosystem at ODU, in Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth.
  • The Institute contains:
    • the Strome Entrepreneurial Center (SEC), 
    • Innovation Center Norfolk, 
    • Tempo,
    • the Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC),
    • the Women's Business Center(WBC), and
    • the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC).
• Norfolk State University Innovation Center
  
  • The NSU Innovation Center offers entrepreneurship and innovation services and support to the community.

 Available Documents:  

• The EVMS Research Greenhouse Entrepreneurial Support Process

Questions?  

Contact Bob Armstrong at armstrrk@evms.edu or 757.446.7121.

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