Entrepreneurship and Innovation

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Campaign progress

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Recent gifts

The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (IEI) connects students to the region’s leading entrepreneurs and scholars, creating a workforce ready for innovative jobs in the Kansas City region. Launched by the Bloch School of Business and Public Administration in 2005, the Institute supports and enhances entrepreneurial growth in Kansas City by creating an environment that will stimulate high-growth new enterprises, which will in turn attract investments and create wealth.

The success of IEI is key to the business school’s goal of becoming an internationally recognized top 10 research and education institution.

IEI is led by Michael Song, the Charles N. Kimball MRI/Missouri Endowed Chair in Management of Technology and Innovation. Song is one of the world’s top scholars in the management of innovation and technology. The research mission of IEI is fueled by two other endowed chairs, including Mark Parry, the Ewing M. Kauffman/Missouri Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership.

These scholars and others across UMKC collaborate to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in students to build future generations of entrepreneurs. They also deliver unsurpassed education through experiential learning opportunities that equip students with the entrepreneurial skills needed to create and manage high-growth new enterprises or established companies.

In addition to offering research and education, IEI’s 4747 Troost building is home to 17 organizations that provide start-up and legal expertise, training and financial management and marketing assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurial firms.

UMKC already has earmarked funds to support this ambitious initiative. The long-term success of IEI, however, is contingent upon the generosity of private donors. The Kauffman Foundation has demonstrated its understanding of the value of having a leading entrepreneurial center in Kansas City by committing funds that, if matched, will position the region for great economic development.

Alumni launch
new fund for student support

Library to expand