The LaunchPad takes off at Wayne State, Walsh College

Thursday, May 6, 2010 | Source: metromode

The future of business in Metro Detroit isn't in the stodgy private clubs or wine tastings with the khakis/blazer/no tie crowd. It's in the halls of higher education and the students who walk them today.

That's why The Blackstone Charitable Foundation is investing $2 million into establishing the Blackstone LaunchPad program at Wayne State University and Walsh College. The idea is to help everyday students harness their entrepreneurial ambitions and create the companies and jobs that will carry the region into the 21st Century.

"Most growth in terms of job creation took place in firms that are less than 15 years old," Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO and chairman of Blackstone, said during a recent press conference.

The $2 million is part of The Blackstone Charitable Foundation's new commitment to invest $50 million over the next five years into institutions and programs that will foster entrepreneurship and economic opportunity in the regions hardest hit by the Great Recession, such as Metro Detroit. The Blackstone Charitable Foundation's multi-million dollar pledge is accompanied by another $800,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation to provide central coordination services and an evaluation tool to measure the success of the project.

The Blackstone LaunchPad program is modeled after a similar program developed at the University of Miami in 2008 that has led to the creation of 45 new businesses and 102 new jobs, primarily from students. Wayne State's version will be housed near the front doors of its Undergraduate Library.

Advisors and mentors will help aspiring studentpreneurs turn their ideas into real businesses by providing practical skills, advice, and contacts. Think of it as a TechTown for Wayne State students or the TechArb student business incubator that the University of Michigan launched last year.

The program's organizers will spend this spring and summer setting up offices and infrastructure in anticipation of helping students in the fall. The office will be open to any student with an idea who wants to walk in. Organizers hope to expand to recent graduates in 2011.

"We're open to accommodate as many students as we can," says Ahmad M Ezzeddine, associate vice president of education outreach and International Programs at Wayne State University. "As many students that are interested."

Source: Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO and chairman of Blackstone and Ahmad M Ezzeddine, associate vice president of education outreach and International Programs at Wayne State University
Writer: Jon Zemke