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December 19, 2019 - For the third consecutive year, King’s College hosted the High School Entrepreneurship Institute presented by tecBRIDGE, a regional organization that is focused on growing entrepreneurship, innovation and the knowledge economy in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Sponsored by King’s, Geisinger, and the McGowan Charitable Fund, the morning-long event was held in the McGowan School of Business at King’s.

The conference was attended by more than 180 students and faculty from local high schools.  Attendees had the opportunity to attend two general sessions and select from two of six concurrent sessions.  The conference is held to assist local high school students understand what it means to be an entrepreneur, finding their big idea, getting started, and how to avoid common mistakes.

The opening general session included a welcome by Mark Leffler, associate professor of management, and a presentation of “Social Entrepreneurship – Redefining Expectation and Impact” by Dr. Bernard Prusak, professor of philosophy and Director of the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. 

The other general session was a panel discussion of “We’re Launching” led by local entrepreneurs: Blaise Delfino of Fader Plugs, Matt Hope of SUMMA, and Dan Lykens of Kraken Boardsports.

Two session of concurrent presentations were held.  Students were able to attend two of the six sessions on topics including Branding 101, Corporate Finance Starts with Personal Finance, Top Entrepreneurial Mistakes, Intentional Networking, Storytelling with Augmented Reality and Artists are Entrepreneurs Too.

Formally known as the Great Valley Technology Alliance, current day tecBRIDGE, was founded in 1998. tecBRIDGE combines the resources from the local community to host events like the Entrepreneurship Institute Conferences, Innovation Conference and Business Plan Competitions as well as record a weekly radio show/podcast featuring local entrepreneurs and innovators in the region.

Pictured, from left, is Leffler, Prusak, and Don Webster, executive director of tecBRIDGE.