Entrepreneurship Center

Sue Oliver

We have exciting news! Sue Oliver has joined the Entrepreneurship Center as our Business Plan Coordinator, effective immediately. Sue will play an integral part as Steve Brilling transitions out of the Center Director role by the end of the school year. Sue comes with a rich background in entrepreneurship, financial services and non-profit leadership. In 2008 she founded and continues to run PowerLeaps, which offers business consulting to entrepreneurs. Prior to this, she worked for a number of financial institutions: Washington Mutual as the group product development manager of the Small Business Division, Mellon Analytical Services as a group product manager and corporate marketing director and the Russell Company in program management and corporate marketing positions.

In 2008 Sue also founded a non-profit named Make a Passion Possible, which supports young adults launching new entrepreneurial ventures. Among her many volunteer experiences, Sue supports Washington CASH’s clients. Because of her tremendous entrepreneurial passion and experience, we are looking forward to Sue running our business plan competition.

At the Entrepreneurship Center we build and nourish the entrepreneurial spirit. To us, entrepreneurship is more than a collection of courses. It's a philosophy, a mindset that inspires innovation, risk-taking, and seizing opportunities in any form of business venture. Some of our grads start their own businesses. Others use their entrepreneurial creativity in larger, established companies. Still others take their passion and skills to the nonprofit business world. Wherever our students choose to pursue their careers, they graduate with tools, skills, and insights to develop their potential.

We're shaping leaders of the future.
That means linking students with the business community. It also means connecting theory with practice: Action-oriented instruction. Applied learning. Hands-on experiences. Business leaders, community supporters, and alumni join us as key resources in our programs. They contribute as advisors. They serve as mentors. They connect with our students through internships, networking, business plan competitions, and guest lecturing. It's part of our approach to creating a real-world environment.

We view education as an investment.
Students spend considerable time and money to pursue opportunities here. Our friends and supporters in the community commit valuable energy and resources, too. Bottom line: We're determined to provide value to all our stakeholders. Whether it's a "New Ventures" class, a CEO mentoring a student, a student providing consulting for a community clinic, we put emphasis on useful, meaningful activity.

Nationally Recognized

U.S. News and World Reports "America's Best Graduate Schools 2011" rankings place Albers Entrepreneurship program at 26th in the Top 30. The Albers MBA program was ranked 22nd in the nation among Executive MBA programs in the same issue.

Our Heritage

Kent Johnson & Family
Kent Johnson is an SU trustee and major supporter of the Center. It was through a generous gift from Kent that we were able to create the Lawrence K. Johnson Endowed Chair for Entrepreneurship in the Albers School of Business & Economics.