Carol Reeves, associate professor of management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, will join the university office of research and economic development as the associate vice provost for entrepreneurship, effective Jan. 1, 2011. In her new role, Reeves will promote entrepreneurship and economic development in the region and across the state of Arkansas. She will work with faculty and students in all colleges at the University of Arkansas to encourage the start-up of new companies based on university research. Reeves, who also holds the Cecil and Gwen Cupp Applied Professorship in Entrepreneurship, has worked closely with the University of Arkansas Technology Licensing Office and Technology Development Foundation to develop student-led start-ups, and she will continue to work with these units to support entrepreneurship among faculty and students. [Read more…]

For one week, millions of young people around the world join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark. [Read more…]

AgRobotics has named Charles V. Michell, Jr., its president and COO, the North Little Rock firm announced Tuesday. AgRobotics, founded in 2006, manufactures and distributes the world’s first on-the-go soil sample collection technology. “We are very pleased to have someone as experienced and capable as Charles Michell join our management team at AgRobotics during this time of great opportunity and explosive growth potential in automated soil sampling,” said Jeffrey Burton, interim CEO. [Read more…]

A team of University of Arkansas students who created a business plan for a more efficient manufacturing process of solar cells has won first place at the Licensing Executives Society Foundation Graduate Student Business Plan Competition. The competition was held in Boston, Mass., on May 18, in conjunction with the Licensing Executives Society USA and Canada and Licensing Executives Society International annual meeting. The Silicon Solar Solutions LLC team won a cash prize of $10,000 and in-kind prizes provided by donors valued at $40,000. [Read more…]

Teams from the University of Arkansas earned top honors in the third-annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup tri-state business plan competition held May 21. The Arkansas teams were awarded first and second place in the graduate division, and first place in the undergraduate division, which included cash that can be used as funds to start their businesses. Faculty advisers also received cash awards. Top honors in the Tri-State competition went to: [Read more…]

Global Moot Corp, tonight announced the Global Champion of its competition is BiologicsMD, a team from the University of Arkansas, developing a new prescription medicine for the treatment of osteoporosis. Biologics MD is developing OsteoFlorTM, a new prescription medicine for the treatment of osteoporosis, based on research developed at the University of Arkansas. OsteoFlorTM binds directly to the bone, nearly tripling new bone growth. Paul Mlakar, President of BiologicsMD said “It’s a great honor to have won this prestigious competition, and we look forward to following the path of other winners in launching our company.” [Read more…]

Global Moot Corp, tonight announced the Global Champion of its competition is BiologicsMD, a team from the University of Arkansas, developing a new prescription medicine for the treatment of osteoporosis. Biologics MD is developing OsteoFlorTM, a new prescription medicine for the treatment of osteoporosis, based on research developed at the University of Arkansas. OsteoFlorTM binds directly to the bone, nearly tripling new bone growth. Paul Mlakar, President of BiologicsMD said “It’s a great honor to have won this prestigious competition, and we look forward to following the path of other winners in launching our company.” In addition to announcing its Global Champion, the competition also announced it is changing its name to the “Venture Labs Investment Competition” and repositioning itself as “The Super Bowl of Investment Competition.” It will continue to use its former name, “Moot Corp,” as part of its tagline for the foreseeable future. [Read more…]

Any education is not complete without establishing a practical application in real-life situations for what that person learns. Our students can take classes in broad subjects like math, English, or science. But in order to grasp the importance of this information and these skills in their lives beyond school, students must have the chance to employ those skills in a real-world setting. Earlier this month, I joined more than 2,100 students from across Arkansas in Hot Springs to apply their abilities in career and technical readiness at the 2010 Arkansas SkillsUSA State Leadership Championship. They showcased the skills they had amassed in culinary arts, construction and emergency response, among many others. [Read more…]

Business professors nationwide and in Arkansas are reporting the growing trend. Carol Reeves, an associate professor of management at the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business, says entrepreneurship programs have been the fastest growing major at universities. This, as the national unemployment rate hovers at 10 percent, and investment banks and Wall Street firms aren’t hiring as many business school graduates as they once did. Reeves’ class has gone from just 2 students in 2000 to 30 this year. At Harding University at Searcy, enrollment in entrepreneurship classes have doubled in the last five years. Such programs teach students everything from how to write a business plan to management, accounting and marketing. [Read more…]