LFICE is the hub for entrepreneurial activity on the JWU Providence campus. Under the guidance of faculty, the e-Center brings together entrepreneurial studies, experiential opportunities, alumni mentors, venture funding and the small business support services to transform students into entrepreneurs and their ideas into commercial or social enterprises.
State of the Art Facilities
The e-Center is the hub for student business incubator with private and co-working space-it is state of the art in dedicated space to JWU student’s entrepreneurial pursuits. It includes a conference room, meeting space, lockers, private offices and open floor plan for ideation.
Wildcat Venture Fund
Administered through the e-Center, The Wildcat Venture Fund provides funding to student entrepreneurs to assist with some of the costs associated with incubation, development, testing and commercialization of their ventures.
This past academic year four students received funding for their business concepts ranging from $1250 to $2,500.
Alumni In Residence
Matt Tortora and his team from Whats Good provide alumni coaching and advising to students.
While completing a second degree with Johnson & Wales University, Matt Tortora was a student who engaged with the ecenter to create a food systems technology and consulting company called Crave Food Services. In 2015, Tortora and his team launched Whats Good, their free online platform that brings local ingredients to restaurants, schools, hospitals and businesses by connecting food service workers and chefs directly to local producers.
One-on-One Academically Driven Coaching
Faculty members are in the e-Center with scheduled hours to provide coaching and advising to students. The e-center provides a clear connection to the theory learned in the classroom into a real world experience with faculty coaches. Faculty work one on one with student entrepreneurs providing them with advice as they launch their business and social ventures.
Incubator Internship in e-Center
This educational accelerator program under the guidance of a faculty member allow students to intern in the ecenter fully focusing on developing their businesses. In addition to faculty mentorship, alumni mentorship and access to the center, each student receives a stipend from the university.
This internship has excited me for the future of my business and has encouraged me to keep pushing the boundaries, work hard, and build my business.
Some of the goals I have already been able to achieve from my previous internship are developing social media pages for my business, working on logo designs, and work on some target market research.
This trimester some goals I have set for myself are to have a full website running, a set menu for my business, completed one-page executive summary, and to keep working and filling in information on my business plan.
I am proud of the goals I have already accomplished in the short time I have been at the Entrepreneurship Center and want to continue to stay dedicated and work hard.
Student Intern, 2016
Faculty
Ezenwayi Amaechi, Ph.D., '07 MBA
Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship
Johnson & Wales University
Providence, Rhode Island
401-598-1075
"I am a result-oriented entrepreneur, author, researcher, and professor of entrepreneurship immersed in the local and international entrepreneurial scene. I bring over 12 years of corporate, teaching, research, and consulting experience with organizations and educational institutions in the USA, Nigeria, and Mexico. I am committed to helping students pursue their entrepreneurial goals and achieve their desired result."