Seminar Series addresses "Entrepreneurship as Service"

Executive directors from local nonprofit organizations and a national educational institute will discuss “Entrepreneurship as Service” at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives. The presentation is part of The Bates Seminar Series in Entrepreneurship, and public is invited to attend free of charge.

Jamie Merisotis `86 and president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, D.C., will join Richard Willing, executive director of L/A Arts; Marty McIntyre `73, executive director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Auburn; and Paul Rubin, executive director of Faithworks in Lewiston for the presentation.

The identification and management of opportunities in social renewal through private and not-for-profit initiatives or community agencies will be carefully reviewed at this meeting. Topics to be explored include how social change, charitable and health and human service organizations share in the entrepreneurial process. Particular attention will be given to the creative and skillful identification of foundation, community, government and corporate involvement for these ventures. Since most service and community enterprises return profits into benefit enhancements, entrepreneurial success for venture developers and managers in these areas also will be investigated.

Aimed at both students and community members, the Bates Seminar Series in Entrepreneurship is an integrated set of lectures and presentations covering the entrepreneurial process, its history and manifestations from conception to implementation of a new venture. The sessions focus on attributes of entrepreneurs, their search and assessment of opportunities and the identification and obtainment of resources that transform ideas into new endeavors. The series exposes the unique ways that the fundamental characteristics of a liberal arts education can be applied in a variety of new enterprises.

The seminar series will rely heavily on Bates alumni, parents and Maine entrepreneurs engaged in a variety of projects, as well as experts and researchers in the field. The next presentation will be “Scientific and Medical Entrepreneurship” at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives.

For more information, call the Bates College Office of Career Services at 207-786-6232 or check the seminar series on this web site.