Presenters

In 2003, the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE) at California State University San Bernardino, founded the annual "Spirit of the Entrepreneur" Awards Program in the Inland Empire along with community partners The Business Press and Press Enterprise Co.. Now in its 7th year and presented solely by IECE and Cal State San Bernardino, the awards are a reflection of our passionate belief that the Inland Empire community should honor and reward the entrepreneurial men and women who innovate, take risks and build businesses that contribute significantly to our local economy.

As a recognized national leader in entrepreneurship education, the mission of the Cal State entrepreneurship program is to inspire, develop, and nurture the next generation of Inland Empire entrepreneurs. We facilitate student learning by immersing them in the entrepreneurial process. Students start and run businesses during their time in the program. They interact with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business leaders from our community to learn from their success and failure. They are mentored and guided by our entrepreneurial faculty. They work on developing business plans, assessing the commercial potential of emerging technologies from our technology transfer office, and provide consulting services to local entrepreneurs. During the process, they discover their strengths, weaknesses, motivations and goals. Most importantly, they discover their entrepreneurial potential – not by simply learning theories, but by experiencing the entrepreneurial process first hand.