Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Enrich your education by exploring entrepreneurship. You may just find that you have a future as a founder.
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Real-world experiences
Established in the fall of 2015 by Phil Hagerman, the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is the heart of entrepreneurship on the University of Michigan-Flint campus. The center offers students opportunities to enrich their education with experiences that take them beyond the classroom. The center’s activities facilitate entrepreneurial and innovative skills to help graduates thrive and be successful.
The beginning
The Hagerman Foundation presented the School of Management with a $2 million gift to establish the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. This gift, the largest to date for SOM, is used to generate excitement about innovation, entrepreneurship and problem-solving in local high schools and all students, instructors and staff from every major within UM-Flint.
The center offers an easy-to-enter innovation competition (i.e., Zillion Solutions), a summer program for high school students, faculty innovation awards, student scholarships, and funding for the Entrepreneurs Society, a student organization. In addition, it has launched a new program, Student Organization Support (SOS), which helps to fund and enhance events with an emphasis on innovation. The gift also inspired a new major offered by SOM: Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management.
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Mission
The Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation aims to increase awareness of, and interest in, entrepreneurship and innovation among members of the University of Michigan-Flint community and potential student enrollees. This goal will primarily be accomplished through Ignite Innovation, which includes five initiatives:
- Faculty Awards
- Summer Entrepreneurship Institute
- Zillion Solutions
- Interdisciplinary Speaker Series
- Student Scholarships
Within the above framework, the Hagerman Center will emphasize:
- Serving Flint.
- UM-Flint student participation in center activities. This participation includes assisting in the center’s management.
- Partnerships with others in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. These partnerships include key stakeholders, such as:
- UM-Flint organizations.
- UM-Flint faculty and alumni.
- The business community.
- Connecting potential and practicing entrepreneurs with appropriate resources.
- Applying best practices in organizational management.
To learn more about Ignite Innovation, email hagermancenter@umich.edu.
International Award for Excellence
UM-Flint’s Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation received the 2024 Excellence in Co-Curricular Innovation Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. This recognition underscores the center’s commitment to spreading an entrepreneurial mindset throughout campus and beyond.
The USASBE is the largest association dedicated to university entrepreneurial education. Read more at UM-Flint NOW.
The Hagermans
Phil Hagerman is president of The Hagerman Foundation, co-owner of SkyPoint Ventures, and chief executive officer of Forum Health Enterprises. He previously served as CEO of Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, which he co-founded with his father, Dale Hagerman.
Phil Hagerman always wanted to work with his father and believes that he was blessed to do so. His motivation in life comes from wanting to make a difference. “If you have passion and belief, you can make a lot of things happen and move a lot of mountains,” he said.
Phil Hagerman contributed a $2 million gift to UM-Flint’s School of Management in January 2015. Read more at UM-Flint NOW.
Admitted students, faculty, and staff may visit the Intranet for more detailed information. The Intranet is the gateway to additional department websites, forms, and resources for all faculty, staff, and students.