By Virginia Lascara
virginia.lascara@insidebiz.com
During a week of events that led to the dedication of the Strome Entrepreneurial Center at Old Dominion University, Mark Strome said he had realistic expectations.
The center won't manufacture entrepreneurs, but it will put them on the right path. And by creating companies that make profits, those entrepreneurs could change the world.
"Entrepreneur activity is at the center of invention and it's what serves our needs," Strome said. "It helps solve problems in the government, cures diseases, solves environmental issues, lengthens lifespans and creates human comfort."
Strome and his wife, Tammy, donated $11 million through their foundation to open the center. Available to all students at the university, it will help guide them through the entrepreneurial process. It will nurture ideas and help them grow through planning, research, analysis, startup and the first stages of operation.
ODU celebrated from Sept. 19 to 26 by hosting a range of activities leading up to the center's dedication and the dedication of the newly named Strome College of Business.
Strome, a 1978 graduate of ODU, has started six companies, three of which have gone public. In 1992 he created Strome Investment Management and Strome Securities LP, both located in Santa Monica, Calif. Now he's investing in the students of ODU.
The center, located on Kaufman Mall adjacent to the business school, will offer entrepreneurship classes to students in all seven colleges at ODU.
"I've been a lot of things - today, I'm an enabler for entrepreneurs," Strome said late last month at the Entrepreneurial Roundtable Discussion, hosted by ODU. He was joined at the roundtable by Tammy Strome and Susan Amat, founder of Venture Hive, and Amy Cosper, editor of Entrepreneur Magazine.
Venture Hive, a company that offers entrepreneurial education in downtown Miami, has partnered with the Strome Center to provide its curriculum to ODU students. With the help of the Stromes and Venture Hive, the 25,000 students of ODU now have access to mentoring and entrepreneurship resources.
"Entrepreneurial education isn't all about formulating the best business plan, it's about the execution of that business plan," Amat said. "It's so important to give people, especially in college, the ability to try at something and fail and not have that count against their grades."
Tammy Strome, co-founder and executive director of the Strome Family Foundation, said people need an effective way to implement their ideas to add to social innovation.
Students will gain knowledge about entrepreneurship that isn't always available to college students, roundtable panelists agreed.
"Every day I am talking to people who are changing the world," Cosper said. "These incubators are a great way to test something outside of the academic realm."
Incubators that create successful startups also flow money through an area, Cosper said.
According to Strome, the economic impact of entrepreneurship is merely a byproduct of a good company.
"Entrepreneurship from my perspective is having a company that makes money," he said. "And out of that flows all these great things and byproducts that help stimulate the economy."
Amat agreed, stating that education and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand and both are related to economic development. Without an educated community, companies will not have the resources and talent they need to grow, she said.
ODU remains focused on the impact the center will have on its students as well as its economic impact in Hampton Roads.
"The economic impact of ODU is valued at $2.1 billion and the Stome Center will add to that," ODU President John Broderick said in his speech at the entrepreneurial center dedication.
In a phone interview last week, Strome said the entrepreneurial center is the practical laboratory where students or community members with the desire to start a company can be mentored.
"They can help you decide if you're crazy or not or help you with practical problems like creating a website," he said.
He hopes the center will help match students with mentors in the community who can guide them through the startup process or teach them the general aspects of a business.
"ODU is an under-discovered place and I think it deserves to be discovered," Strome said. "Hopefully now kids will think about going there for entrepreneurship."