South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project lands $50,000 grant from Gifford Foundation

SYRACUSE, NY (Thursday, April 28, 2005) - The Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises is pleased to announce a $50,000 grant from the Gifford Foundation to support the South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project.

The funding will help support the South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project activities, under the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, including managing the various projects in the community, supporting our seminars and OnTarget, our youth-focused seminar series, and generally promoting the Center’s focus on inner-city entrepreneurship. Our goal is the creation of new ventures on the South Side, while strengthening existing ones, through the strategic use of students, faculty, and resources of the Whitman School of Management and Syracuse University.

Dr. Michael Morris, Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship, said, "The Gifford grant is a huge step on the path toward an entrepreneurial renaissance on the South Side. We are proud to be working with them on this vital initiative."

The South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project currently works with eleven new or existing businesses, to support their plans for growth and job creation in the community. We have also established a South Side Entrepreneurial Association of business owners to give voice to the business community there and help us better direct our efforts.

A South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Board of Advisors acts as the strategic planning arm of our project, using the combined skills and leveraging influences of business owners, city and county development leaders, and community activists to further the goals of the project