Business & Entrepreneurship

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.

Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis is hosting seven of the nation’s top finance scholars for an intensive, four-day program geared for doctoral business students and university faculty. More than 130 participants from across the nation and around the world will gather on the Danforth Campus Aug. 12-15 for a program called “Summer School: Financial Intermediation and Contracting,” a chance to learn from some of the brightest and best-regarded minds in the field.

Following the death of Michael Brown a year ago this August, one of the key issues to emerge was a critical examination of the municipal court system in the individual communities that make up St. Louis County. Many of the courts were accused of not working primarily for justice, but as a way to raise funds for municipalities. Three faculty members from the School of Law, all of whom are involved in court reform efforts, express their thoughts on the reform process.

On Aug. 5, Mahendra R. Gupta, PhD, dean and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, attended a convening at the White House hosted by the White House Council on Women and Girls and the Council of Economic Advisers. Mark Brostoff, associate dean and director of Olin’s Weston Career Center, also attended.