South Carolina State University News December 8, 2015 School of Business Awarded $600,000 Grant for Ag Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the SC State University School of Business a capacity building grant in the amount of $596,977 to advance the food and fiber sector through innovation and entrepreneurship. The program will integrate research, curriculum and incubator components that are designed to train a new generation of agri-entrepreneurs to enter, grow and advance the food and fiber industry; identify technologies and processes that will advance the industry and enhance the capacity of South Carolina State in teaching and research. Dr. Barbara Adams, interim dean of the business school, serves as principal investigator; Dr. Renu Singh, associate professor of marketing, is the co-PI. An attractive feature of the program is the incubator component. Students completing the innovation and entrepreneurship curriculum will compete for positions in an incubator setting. In partnership with the Palmetto Enterprise Center - Incubator (PEC-I), located in Orangeburg, students will receive assistance in commercializing their product, service or technology. Adams indicates that students may have an idea for a new product, service or technology or an improvement on an existing product, service or technology; however, prior to the grant being awarded, the university did not have an effective vehicle or program in place to guide or challenge the young innovators in developing their ideas into opportunities that can be nurtured through the first few years of development. "Students will now be challenged to engage in innovative thinking to identify needs and opportunities in the food and fiber sector," she says. Although the focus of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program seeks to advance growth in the food and fiber sector, it is considered an interdisciplinary project. Students in agribusiness, food and nutrition, family and consumer sciences, business administration, biology, engineering technology and computer science will be encouraged to participate in the program. "This program is significant for SC State and the state of South Carolina for a number of reasons," says Adams. "As the demand for food and fiber products increase, agribusinesses must increase the use of technology and innovative processes. Their performance and success will depend on their knowledge, creativity and managerial expertise. In addition, the development of new products will be instrumental in strengthening the growth and startup of innovative agribusiness enterprises in South Carolina." The grant, funded by USDA/NIFA for a three-year period, began this past September. Adams expects the curriculum to be implemented in summer 2016. For more information on the project, contact Dr. Barbara Adams at (803) 536-8186 or badams@scsu.edu<mailto:badams@scsu.edu>. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.