SMU Cox’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship Celebrates Rich History in Launching Entrepreneurial Business Dreams
Dallas (SMU)—The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce its 100th offering of Starting a Business, a certificate course open to the business community, beginning October 4, 2005. In its 34th year, the course, offered three times per year in an eight-week, one night a week structure, provides students with an awareness of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur as well as the skills required to prepare and present professional business plans.
The Caruth Institute’s Starting a Business course has established itself as a Dallas/Fort Worth landmark, training more than 6,700 successful entrepreneurs including Lee Posey, chairman and founder, Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHHM) and Garrett Boone, co-founder and chairman, The Container Store.
“The Caruth Institute’s Starting a Business course was extremely valuable,” said Garrett Boone, co-founder and chairman, The Container Store. “It forced me to focus on the business of starting my own business and think in a more disciplined manner about what it would take to launch our dream.”
Topics addressed in the course include the keys to successful entrepreneurship, venture capital financing, and internet entrepreneurship. Prior guest speakers include David Litman, Hotels.com, Sheryl Leach, Barney & Friends, Phil Romano, Macaroni Grill & Eatzi’s, and Virginia Cook, Virginia Cook Realtors. Past participating students have included aspiring entrepreneurs, career changers, corporate executives, and individual service professionals. Ages ranged from recent college graduates to retirees.
History of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship
From humble beginnings as a small office operation, the Caruth Institute has grown to keep pace with the burgeoning field of entrepreneurship. Since its founding, the Caruth Institute has garnered local, national, and international recognition. In 2005, Entrepreneur magazine ranked the Caruth Institute #5 among the top 100 entrepreneurship programs in the nation, as ranked by program directors, faculty, and alumni. And in a recent BusinessWeek ranking of the top 25 Executive MBA programs in the world, SMU Cox’s course in entrepreneurship was listed as #1.
Jerry F. White, director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship and instructor, has taught courses in entrepreneurship since 1972, educating and counseling more than 22,000 aspiring and practicing entrepreneurs throughout the United States and Canada. A pioneer and expert in his field, he has co-authored two books, The Entrepreneur’s Master Planning Guide (Prentice-Hall) and Administering the Closely Held Company, and has published articles in numerous business journals, including the Harvard Business Review and the Journal of Small Business Management.
“The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship was founded at SMU’s Cox School of Business as one of the first university-based entrepreneurship centers in the United States,” said Jerry F. White, “I have witnessed tremendous changes in entrepreneurship education and am both honored and thrilled to have been part of the university educational movement known as entrepreneurship for more than three decades.”
Established at SMU in 1970 by Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist W.W. Caruth, Jr., the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship offers education and training for today’s entrepreneur who competes in a rapidly changing, fast-paced, technology-driven environment. The entrepreneurship program offers 18 graduate level courses and 2 undergraduate level courses in entrepreneurship. Other Institute programs, such as the Dallas 100™ Awards and the Southwest Venture Forum, promote the innovation and vast business acumen of area entrepreneurs.
For more information on the Caruth Institute, please go to: caruth.cox.smu.edu or call 214-768-3689.
