Dr. K's business plan: spreading entrepreneurship throughout IU and a new awards program.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: ENTREPRENEURS

THERE'S A NEW GOAL for Indiana entrepreneurs who wish to distinguish themselves from the competition, and it is part of a statewide plan to expand Indiana University's expertise on the subject.

The first Indiana Entrepreneurial Awards of Distinction honor 18 companies, a nonprofit organization and a pioneer in Indiana business for their various contributions to the state's economy. The new focus on distinction is part of an ambitious strategy, undertaken by Dr. Donald Kuratko, to expand Indiana University's entrepreneurship program.

Kuratko, who has received national recognition for his study of entrepreneurship, serves as chair of the university's entrepreneurship program and executive director of The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

After growing up around a family business in Chicago and launching several new ventures, Kuratko discovered that there weren't many higher-education options for studying entrepreneurship in the 1980s. So, like a true entrepreneur who senses an opportunity, Kuratko set out to change that.

He began doing research, taught classes (where he acquired the nickname "Dr. K") and wrote a textbook that would become the No. 1 text on the subject. He was the founding director of the nationally ranked entrepreneurship program at Ball State University and received four lifetime awards at that school before leaving for his current position. Through his work, Kuratko has been impressed with entrepreneurs who demonstrate passion, innovative thinking and determination to overcome problems.

"I was amazed at some of the great stories that we have in the state," he says. "Entrepreneurship is probably the most powerful force in our economy right now."

Leveraging that force by introducing entrepreneurship instruction in other Indiana University programs is part of Kuratko's current plan to turn "brain drain" into "brain gain" and keep the state's graduates in Indiana's economy. The key to his vision is an effort to create entrepreneurs among law, medicine, informatics, public affairs and even music students. That includes bringing business classes to other disciplines and even setting up satellite offices of the Johnson Center where MBA students can help to develop ideas with commercial viability.

"We are probably the most aggressive business school in the country in having this type of reach across an entire campus, " Kuratko says. "I think the Kelley School of Business will be considered a national model in the way we have set up offices in the other schools in order to make a significant statement that we are bringing entrepreneurship across the IU campus."

For example, collaboration with the School of Law has already led to the development of an Entrepreneurship Law Clinic, which is designed to provide both law and MBA students with experiential learning on actual company projects involving legal aspects, such as intellectual property and IPO regulations.

In the coming year, new entrepreneurial certificate programs will be added in other schools. The IU School of Music will be offering a certificate program for "Entrepreneurship & the Arts," which will be co-taught by an entrepreneurship professor and a professor from the music school. In the School of Public & Environmental Affairs, a certificate in social entrepreneurship will include courses from both schools focusing on the nonprofit sector.

"The early feedback has been great. Our students feel really challenged by the projects having such significance to the particular school and the university," Kuratko says. "In addition, they are working on aspects of real startups here in Indiana, which makes the assignments that much more intriguing."

However, the true measure of success will be the creation of new entrepreneurs who help to grow Indiana's economy after they graduate. "In all of our schools, there is a great amount of brainpower and new ideas," Kuratko explains. "We would like to see some of our best and brightest students stay here and launch businesses."

At the same time he is laying groundwork for the state's future entrepreneurs, Kuratko has revamped the annual...