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At Hiram College, entrepreneurship is more than organizing and starting a business. It is a way of thinking. The skills and character fostered by the liberal arts are an excellent foundation for successful entrepreneurs, who use their passion to create valued products, services, and programs. The synergy of liberal arts and entrepreneurship helps students develop the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to enhance their own lives, and those of their communities and society, no matter their areas of study or chosen career paths.

The mission of Integrated Entrepreneurship at Hiram is to foster an expansive sense of the possible, an exploration of personal passion, an ownership of one’s ideas and actions, and a commitment to add value to one’s self and one’s community. The Center is designed to help all members of the Hiram community explore and develop their ideas beyond the classroom, to see themselves as entrepreneurs who can add value to their communities and profit from their passions.

  • The integrated entrepreneurship program (IE) is not housed within a business program – it seeks to engage ideas and enterprise concepts from all academic disciplines.
  • IE and the Center are housed in the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurship Center of East Hall, a residence hall with suites that form a learning community of students with an interest in entrepreneurship.
  • The Center is a resource for students to research and develop their entrepreneurial ideas into start-up businesses. In the Center, students have access to workspace, desk space, wireless internet, computer/printer, business software, whiteboards, storage space, resource materials, and a network of experienced entrepreneurs.
  • Hiram College entrepreneurship students can take advantage of an accelerated 4 + 1 MBA program through Ashland University. Students will be eligible to complete three advanced degree courses in entrepreneurship offered by Ashland with a 10% discounted tuition while earning their bachelor's degree at Hiram. Upon conferment of the bachelor's degree from Hiram and matriculation to Ashland University, students will continue to experience a 10% tuition discount for the remainder of the MBA program. 
  • The Center hosts two annual idea competitions - ideablitz! and ideabuild! - that are open to all students. Participants have access to significant mentoring by faculy and area entrepreneurs, cash prizes to help develop their concepts, and regional competitions. 
  • The Center’s e-network is a rich resource for students, providing mentoring, guidance and internship opportunities.
  • The Center is a member of the Northeast Ohio Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC), allowing Hiram students to participate in a regional idea competition and a weeklong entrepreneurship immersion experience.
  • The Center supports the High-Performance Program (HPP), which was formed in fall 2021. HPP is the entrepreneurship honors program. HPP students join Toastmasters, are paired up with a mentor, and attend monthly meetings designed to develop students into employable and productive people. For more information, please email David Kukurza at kukurzadj@hiram.edu.
  • The Center facilitates a mentor program, developed in 2019, via David Kukurza, Academic Program Director. This program aligns entrepreneurs as life coaches to declared entrepreneurship minors. The student is matched with the mentor upon the declaration of the entrepreneurship minor, and the relationship continues until the student graduates from Hiram College. 

Primary Academic Programs Associated with the Center (others may also be influenced by the Center)

  • Entrepreneurship minor
  • Integrated coursework across the curriculum
  • Experiential learning opportunities for any major

Key Personnel

  • David Strukel, Director of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship; Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sport Management 
  • David J. Kukurza, Academic Program Director and Instructor of Integrated Entrepreneurship