Business & Entrepreneurship

The United States Supreme Court agreed Nov. 6, for the fourth time in three years, to rule on challenges to the Affordable Care Act. This time the court will rule on the birth control mandate. A decision siding with large nonprofit corporations in this new case means that employers would prevail at significant cost to employees, said Elizabeth Sepper, JD, religious freedom and health law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

The School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis is hosting this year’s National Board of Trial Advocacy Tournament of Champions, one of the premier law school trial competitions nationwide. The competition runs Oct. 28 through Oct. 31 at the Thomas Eagleton Federal Courthouse in St. Louis and at the School of Law.

FoodShare is a new app that allows users to donate a meal for every meal purchased at a participating restaurant. Developed by Washington University junior Andrew Glantz, the app ​is a finalist for the Mobileys, a nationwide competition that honors entrepreneurs who make a difference through mobile innovation.

Washington University in St. Louis startups are having an impact on the St. Louis community. A new research project from the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship shows just how much the university, through an innovative course called The Hatchery, has helped foster entrepreneurship and innovation on campus, in St. Louis and beyond.

About 200 Washington University students in medicine, engineering and business recently gathered in the Cortex Innovation District for a networking event known as “Problem Day.” The event kicked off a seven-month effort for student entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions to clinical problems. 

​Nearly a third of the companies taking part in Startup Connection this year have direct ties to Washington University, highlighting the depth of commitment the school has for entrepreneurship and innovation efforts.

​Crunching big data, especially from social networking sites, is one of the hottest areas of study in business schools right now.  A new center at Washington University in St. Louis is teaching students best practices when it comes to data mining and analysis. Seethu Seetharaman, PhD, the W. Patrick McGinnis Professor of Marketing, is the center’s director.

The world of collegiate and professional sports combines some of the most important facets of business, including financing, marketing and media. On Friday, Sept. 25, Washington University in St. Louis will take attendees off the sideline and into the action with a panel of top local and national sports executives for the inaugural Olin Sports Business Summit. Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program, is helping to organize the panel.

Five founding institutions teamed with the city of St. Louis to create the Cortex Innovation Community in midtown St. Louis. The innovative life sciences and technology hub is leading the way toward a renewed economy.

Contract employees and other temporary workers will be able to bargain more effectively with the business entity that controls their working conditions and wages after an Aug. 27 decision by the National Labor Relations Board. The ruling signals a shift toward a more realistic and fact-dependant analysis of the evolving nature of employment in the modern labor market, said noted Washington University in St. Louis labor law expert Marion Crain.