Entrepeneurial Institute Established at Sy Syms

In an effort to expand options for undergraduate business students, the Sy Syms School of Business has established the Rennert Entrepreneurial Institute. The Institute, according to SSSB Dean Harold Nierenberg, is “the next stage of the Sy Syms School of Business’ growth and development.” The Rennert family contributed $2.5 million to the University to enable the creation of the Institute, which has already begun operation.

“The forerunner of the Entrepreneurial Institute,” according to YU Vice President for Academic Affairs William Schwartz, “was the Entrepreneurial Seminar that gave students the opportunity to hear from captains of industry from every conceivable industry.” In addition to the Entrepreneurial Seminar, the Institute already offers classes in entrepreneurship, retail management, industrial marketing as well as an internship program.

The Institute will add classes in venture capital and international export promotion this spring. It also seeks to add classes in organization and structure, globalization, regulation and law, import-export, and small business at some point in the future. Dean Nierenberg also hopes “to develop entrepreneurship into a concentration” of its own, and then “to expand it into an MBA program.”
In addition to the in-class instruction that the Institute will provide, the Dr. William Schwartz Entrepreneurial Prize Competition has been announced. It is slated to be an annual competition that will award monetary prizes the most impressive student entrepreneurial venture proposal. The competition will be judged by a University advisory council that will include Dean Nierenberg, Dr. Schwartz, and members of the Rennert family. “The significant prizes that will be awarded,” explained Dr. Schwartz, “are designed to motivate students to follow the spirit of entrepreneurship.”
The Institute also plans to publish a newsletter, a research journal and looks forward to having both professional conferences and continuing education courses. These continuing education classes will be geared toward the business community and will be similar to the program sponsored by SSSB last year entitled “How to Run a Family Business.”