UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) is putting together a number of great new programs. We’re starting by creating a dynamic advisory board to oversee the new program launches.

Our campaign to rent our event space to area businesses for workshops and conferences will highlight the value of a competitively priced venue with high-end audio and video capability, plenty of free parking, and great space for serving catered meals.

In our second launch, we will offer valuable CIE memberships for just $30 a year in our membership drive. Members will be able to attend our monthly business events for no additional charge. Topics planned for these events include business law, tax planning for businesses, sales and marketing, and social media strategies. Local professionals, area experts and UNCW faculty will be participating in these monthly events, which will create a platform for the community’s skilled and reputable area professionals.

If you are a CPA, attorney, human resources expert, advertising executive, marketing specialist or experienced business consultant, you’ll want to check out our new Business Focus Groups which begin in September. Businesses with problems or issues that need to be addressed will have the opportunity to gain valuable insight and possible solutions from area experts in a confidential setting.

Another launch provides students, faculty and local entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their startup business ideas. Who will have the “Perfect Pitch”?

If you need an intern from the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, please let us know. Our undergraduate and graduate students can be a great resource for your company. Our students typically work on business assignments ranging from software development, website creation and search engine optimization to accounting or marketing projects. Let us know what kind of project your business needs help with and we’ll do our best to find the right intern for you.

We are proud of the programs we are developing and the opportunity to be an important business resource in New Hanover County. To learn more about these programs, contact Chuck Whitlock and his staff of business professionals at 910-962-2886 or [email protected]. Visit our website at www.uncw.edu/cie. We are located at 803-G South College Road in Wilmington.

Chuck Whitlock is the interim executive director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship  at UNC Wilmington. CIE is an accelerator for the startup community to help diversify the local economy with innovative companies that will pay higher wages. For more information, go to www.uncw.edu/cie.