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Since the creation of the OSU Entrepreneurship Program, not only has the program reached students on campus, it’s also reaching out to the Stillwater community, the state of Oklahoma and the nation.

Michael Morris, head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, which started in 2009, said he has seen the program greatly expand during the past year, with 425 students taking entrepreneurship classes this semester.

Morris said OSU has one of the most comprehensive academic entrepreneurship programs in the United States.

OSU recruited Morris from Syracuse University, a school with a top entrepreneurship program, where he was the head of the department.

There are various outreach programs that Morris helped start at Syracuse that OSU is now developing.

One program, which will start in Jan. 2010, is the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program.
Morris, who helped start this project at OSU and is also a veteran, said he feels passionately about the program.

“I believe we owe it to these veterans who have paid such a price in serving their country,” Morris said.

The veteran program provides entrepreneurial learning and development opportunities for service-disabled veterans and those who distinguished themselves in their service.

The program is free to eligible veterans and includes travel expenses, lodging and meals.

The veterans are provided with an eight-day training program on the OSU-Stillwater campus, followed by a five-week self-study component. After the program is finished, the veterans are provided with a 10-month period of mentorship and online peer-to-peer networking.

Blaine Rider, a graduate student in the Spears School of Business, said the program is designed to help disabled veterans get their feet on the ground and give them the tools they need to start their own businesses.

After recruiting disabled veterans from across the nation, Rider said they want to make the experience as beneficial and easy as they can for the veterans.

“These veterans obviously so faithfully served us and we want to give back to them as much as we can,” Rider said. “We want to give them the opportunity to come and learn from some of the best entrepreneurship professors in the country, and we are happy to do that. It’s a fantastic program.”

Morris said the program is funded by donations, mainly from alumni. It costs about $120,000 each year to run because everything is free to the veterans.

The Riata Center, which was donated to the Spears School of Business in September 2009, not only acts as a place for students to surround themselves in entrepreneurship, but also serves as a hub for the entrepreneurial outreach programs.

The center was made possible by a $28.6 million donation from Amy and Malone Mitchell III last year.

The Mitchells founded Riata Energy, which is now called SandRidge Energy, with a loan of $500 in 1984, one year after they graduated from OSU. It grew into one of the largest privately-held energy companies and the largest privately-held land driller in the United States, according to an OSU news release.

Morris said the Riata Center, as well as the OSU Entrepreneurship Program, are strongly committed to experiential learning for students.

Other outreach programs include the Cowboy Entrepreneurial Bootcamps, the Experiential Classroom, the Riata Business Plan Competition, and the Riata Internship program.

Jeretta Nord, an OSU entrepreneurship professor and author of the book, “A Cup of Cappuccino for the Entrepreneur’s Spirit,” said the outreach programs have really helped the department grow.

“These programs have been excellent because they’re not just geared towards the students,” Nord said. “The outreach programs go out into the community, and it’s a way for us to offer our services to others.”