Attman Gift to Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center Names New Space for Innovative Venture Growth
March 12, 2009
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Edward Attman, B.S. '42, founder and owner of Acme Paper & Supply Co., Inc., and the 2008 University of Baltimore Distinguished Entrepreneur, has presented a substantial gift to his alma mater's Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center and its newly opened business development space for the support, training and mentoring of students, alumni and others interested in developing small business start-ups.
This new space, which further expands the EOC's physical footprint, will be known as The Edward Attman and Mildred Cohen Attman Enterprise Hatchery. The hatchery program is based on an award winning model for the development of pre-revenue ventures that allows for a number of business models to be tested by an emerging entrepreneur. This early testing can dramatically improve the viability of a new enterprise.
Once the enterprise is launched, the entrepreneur will then move on to the incubation facilitates that the EOC brought on line last fall during a special ribbon cutting and reception last Nov. 13, in an event attended by more than 100 of Baltimore's leaders from business, government and nonprofit organizations. Both programs are located on the first floor of the William H. Thumel Sr. Business Center, home of the Merrick School of Business, and are further evidence of the EOC's growing capabilities in providing a strong foundation of real-world expertise to students and others who are pursuing their ideas and concepts for small businesses.
Darlene Smith, dean of the Merrick School of Business, praised Attman as one of the school's leading alumni and said his latest support reveals the depth of his entrepreneurial mindset.
"He sincerely believes in our efforts to improve the chances of a small business or start-up surviving and thriving in the long term," Smith said. "He specifically directed this gift to enhance our capabilities in the EOC. To me, this demonstrates a remarkable level of understanding of the school, the center and the students and future business owners who learn and work here. Our thanks to Ed Attman for this groundbreaking effort."
Jim Kucher, executive director of the Entrepreneurship Program in the Merrick School of Business and the EOC, said the Attman gift demonstrates the growing demand of business practitioners for 21st century approaches to the issues of new-business creation and development.
"Ed Attman's support says that among those who are out there now doing business, or who have been through the process of being an entrepreneur over a period of years, there is a real understanding of the need for supporting business start-ups and concepts in exactly the way that we’re doing it," Kucher said. "Ed is inspiring our next generation of leaders in the business community in Baltimore and beyond. And he’s reminding all of us just what a distinguished entrepreneur can do."
The Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center, part of the Merrick School of Business at UB, is a growing campus-based venture designed to support local entrepreneurs as they continue to move into the economic mainstream of the city, the region and beyond. The center is supported in part by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development and Stuart and Faye Silberg.
Now in its third year, the center provides much-needed programs that support individuals and groups as they build, launch and grow innovative ventures, relying on in-house staff and faculty expertise and a large and growing contingent of external consultants, successful UB alumni entrepreneurs, and volunteers from the business community.
Acme Paper is one of the largest distributors of janitorial supplies, disposable goods, foodservice and industrial equipment, and retail and custom packaging in the Mid-Atlantic region. The company is headquartered in Savage, Md.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.