How a new $250,000 grant and program will boost entrepreneurship at CSU Stanislaus
Stanislaus State University has received a $250,000 grant to establish a mentorship program for emerging entrepreneurs that will launch in fall 2021.
According to a university news release, the program will provide “inspiration, mentorship and financial support” for the entrepreneurs as they “strive to turn their ideas and concepts into new business ventures that can help grow the region’s economy.”
Funding for the program, called the Warrior Entrepreneurship Initiative, comes from the Porges Family Foundation. Norm Porges and his son Evan founded Prime Shine Car Wash in Modesto in 1991. After selling their business in 2018, the two began working with the Stanislaus Community Foundation on their charitable fund, which is now financing the program at CSU Stanislaus.
The program will begin with a three-year pilot designed to “inspire a robust culture of enterprise” at the university, establish connections to the Central Valley’s “entrepreneurial ecosystem, engage regional business community members and expand the number of start-ups in the region,” according to the release.
Additionally, the program seeks to increase the number of students engaged in entrepreneurship, and build a foundation where students have access to mentors and experiential learning opportunities.
The program will include a faculty fellowship, business competition, a scholarship fund — with 10 $4,000 scholarships available in the first three years — and “a volunteer entrepreneurs-in-residence program.”
“There is so much talent out there,” Norm Porges, of the Porges Family Foundation, said in the release. “We lose a lot of talent because someone is afraid to take that first step. When I first started, I didn’t know how to run a small family business, so I went to several sources. Our multifaceted approach embraces that concept, so students who have this dream of establishing their own entrepreneurial venture have a place to find answers.”
Evan Porges told The Bee that he and his father have been partnering with the university for years, most notably with the Champions of the American Dream competition. This new initiative is a number of years in the making, and Evan Porges said that he hopes the program will spark real results, and get students to start their own businesses.
“That concept of entrepreneurship is one that we want to share with other young folks who are at a point in life where you say, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’” he said. “We really want this program to expose students to an option in their life to start their own business, instead of necessarily going and working for the big company.”
Tomás Gómez-Arias, the dean of the College of Business Administration, said the university is looking forward to encouraging entrepreneurship among its students and the wider community, especially at a time where economic activities have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ultimately, we expect hundreds of people to participate in the initiative in one way or another,” he told The Bee. “Some of them will be much more engaged, and much more involved. Some of them may participate only in one event for for a couple of hours.”
Gómez-Arias said that the program will offer opportunities for students and community members alike to participate in activities, including a “a creativity fair, an event or series of events to get people to have crazy ideas, because ultimately that’s what entrepreneurship is all about.”
He said that in selecting mentors and speakers for the program, he and his colleagues have a commitment to feature diverse voices and entrepreneurs of all levels and backgrounds. He added that he especially wants to ensure Latino and women entrepreneurs are featured as part of the program.
“Very often there are voices that we seldom hear, and those are the voices I want to make sure we have participate,” he told the Bee.
Additionally, Evan Porges said “one of the most exciting parts” of the program is the opportunity to provide a stepping stone for first-generation students into the business world.
Of Stanislaus State’s 10,000 students, over 75% identify as first-generation college students, according to the university. Among its top fields of study is business administration.
“We believe that a true champion of the American Dream isn’t just someone who made a lot of money,” Evan Porges said. “It has nothing to do with money, it has it has more to do about making a contribution to their industry and making a contribution back to their community.”
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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