CCEI


Alum Embarks on Search For True Happiness—Finds It All Across the USA

Michelle Wax '12 (BUS) poses for a photo in front of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. (Contributed Photo)
Michelle Wax ’12 (BUS) poses for a photo in front of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. (Contributed Photo)

She should have been on top of the world.

Alumna Michelle Wax ’12 (BUS), was in her mid-20s and already the owner of two successful companies in the food industry. Business was great, yet something was amiss. Continue Reading


UConn Alums Want You to ‘Roast’ Them

From left, Kwame "Ato'' Eyiah, Ben Morneault and Chris Mueller, alumni from the Class of 2019, are launching their new Roast Me game.(Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)
From left, Kwame “Ato” Eyiah, Ben Morneault and Chris Mueller, alumni from the Class of 2019, are launching their new Roast Me game.(Nathan Oldham / UConn School of Business)

Three recent UConn alumni are on the verge of releasing their first entrepreneurial venture, a unique card game called Roast Me. The game brings a twist to good-natured comedic gibes among friends, with a gameplay style similar to “adult” card games that have become popular in recent years.Continue Reading


KeyBank Gives $75K to UConn Program for Veteran Business Owners

KeyBank has presented a $75,000 grant to the UConn School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, which helps U.S. military veterans become small business owners. Pictured from left to right are UConn EBV program graduates Jorge and Jessica Rodriguez, KeyBank Corporate Responsibility Officer LaKisha Jordan, KeyBank Market President Jim Barger, and UConn  EBV Director Michael Zacchea. (Contributed Photo)
KeyBank has presented a $75,000 grant to the UConn School of Business’ Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans, which helps U.S. military veterans become small business owners. Pictured from left to right are UConn EBV program graduates Jorge and Jessica Rodriguez, KeyBank Corporate Responsibility Officer LaKisha Jordan, KeyBank Market President Jim Barger, and UConn EBV Director Michael Zacchea. (Contributed Photo)

The KeyBank Foundation on Thursday presented a $75,000 grant to UConn in support a School of Business program that helps U.S. military veterans become small-business owners.Continue Reading


Startup That Recycles Toxic Sludge Wins UConn’s Wolff Competition

UConn Today – A startup that could rid the earth of vast cesspools of toxic sludge won UConn’s annual Wolff New Venture Competition, and a $20,000 prize, on Monday night.

The entrepreneurial competition honors some of the strongest startup programs with a UConn affiliation. All five of the teams that participated have spent at least a year refining and developing their business plans under the guidance of the School of Business’ Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.Continue Reading


CCEI’s 2019 Entrepreneurship Summer Fellowship Champs

Left to right: Michelle Chao, Michael Martin, and Nicolas Myers, of Phoenix Tailings.  Emily Yale, of Land Maverick.  Christian Heiden, of Levo International.  Derek Hargrove, and Xiuling Yu, of Nami Therapeutics.  Brendan MacIntyre, and Nikolas Franceschi-Hofmann, of Geyser Remediation. (Evan Olson - UConn School of Business)
Left to right: Michelle Chao, Michael Martin, and Nicolas Myers, of Phoenix Tailings. Emily Yale, of Land Maverick. Christian Heiden, of Levo International. Derek Hargrove, and Xiuling Yu, of Nami Therapeutics. Brendan MacIntyre, and Nikolas Franceschi-Hofmann, of Geyser Remediation. (Evan Olson – UConn School of Business)

The startups at this year’s CCEI Summer Fellowship Finale presented vastly different entrepreneurial ideas, but all were united by a common, altruistic thread.Continue Reading


Building a Successful Startup with UConn Support

In less than six years, Cremins turned the company he began at UConn into a sought-after enterprise. He recently sold it to Elkay, an international manufacturing company known for water fountains and bottle filling stations commonly found in offices, schools, gyms, airports, and hotels.Continue Reading


xCITE Conference: Bolster Women Entrepreneurs by Starting Younger

xCITE 2019 Keynote Speaker Cristal Glangchai (Zack Wussow/Zack Wussow Media)
xCITE 2019 Keynote Speaker Cristal Glangchai (Zack Wussow/Zack Wussow Media)

When Cristal Glangchai asked a 5-year-old girl if there was a problem in her life that she would like to solve, the youngster said she was tired of getting scolded for eating Play-Doh. Continue Reading