The South Bend Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program seeks to help those in the South Bend community facing economic or other hardships to start and grow businesses of their own. The program lasts 12 months.
The Keough School’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business manages the program in close partnership with local nonprofit groups, government offices, small businesses, and other university partners across South Bend.
We seek to:
The South Bend Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program is an integrated, multi-faceted program that involves six core elements:
After applying and receiving acceptance into the South Bend Entrepreneurship and Adversity Program, participants will begin their experience with the Community Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs.
Program participants will benefit immensely from the South Bend Community Bootcamp—an intense, hands-on exposure to the fundamentals of launching and growing a successful venture, taught by seasoned faculty, subject matter experts, and successful entrepreneurs. The bootcamp occurs on six consecutive Saturday mornings in the spring.
Topics covered in the Community Bootcamp address all facets of a successful venture, ranging from the development of a viable business concept to understanding your market, designing your profit model, setting up operations properly, marketing your venture, and understanding the basic numbers. Our underlying focus is how to think and act in entrepreneurial ways—including how to do more with less—and how to grow a venture when you have little in the way of resources. The approach will be interactive, so participants will be encouraged to bring business ideas and challenges into the weekly discussions.
Anyone in the community who suffers from adverse economic, physical, or related circumstances is eligible to participate in the program. We focus on supporting community members living in poverty who have a dream of starting and growing a venture, including those who have already started a venture but are struggling.
The price of the Community Bootcamp is $500. However, scholarships of $475 are available for anyone with financial need. All applicants are considered for scholarship.
The application deadline is February 1, 2021.
We welcome the involvement of community members as volunteers, mentors, and donors. Please contact program director Michael Morris at mmorri24@nd.edu to learn more.
Contact the program director, Michael Morris