New Waynesburg U. eHIVE buzzing with opportunities
Waynesburg University was abuzz with activity Friday, and with good reason.
A grand opening was held for the university’s new Entrepreneurial Hub for Innovative Ventures and Endeavors (eHIVE), located on the first floor of the Stover Campus Center.
“We have brought together our activities across campus,” said Dr. Mindy Walls, W. Robert Stover chair for entrepreneurial leadership and chair of the business department. “If you’re doing something with entrepreneurship and innovation, this is the place you need to be. We want every student regardless of their major to have an opportunity to learn the mindset and skillset not only to identify problems in the community but to take the steps in order to solve them. We feel that is our mission. What we want our students to do is not only think entrepreneurially but act entrepreneurially.”
An Entrepreneurial Leadership Program was established at Waynesburg University in 2018, as President Douglas Lee had a goal to create a culture of entrepreneurship on campus.
“I was convinced that what we needed at Waynesburg more than anything was a mindset, educating every student that came here with those fundamental skills in entrepreneurship in problem solving, all those skills they need in whatever occupation they move into,” Lee said Friday. “This eHIVE represents the culmination of that vision and it’s just the beginning of what we want to begin to do.”
Waynesburg’s former eHIVE entrepreneurial center was located on the second floor of the campus center, but more space was needed as the operation grew. That led to the construction of the new eHIVE, a nearly $2 million undertaking paid for by numerous donors.
Included in the new eHIVE is a state-of-the art makerspace, a woodshop, a “flexspace” for meetings and a classroom. There also is a glass wall to enable passersby the opportunity to see what’s happening in the eHIVE.
The center is open to any student on campus, regardless of major, and the opportunity exists to use multiple pieces of equipment with the proper supervision, including 3D printers, a laser engraver, large format printer, CNC router, heat press and multiple kinds of saws.
“We have the tools, we have the space, we want students to come with the idea,” explained Andrew Heisey, chair of the department of fine art. “It’s a place where students have an idea and we have all of the potential equipment to make it a reality. We’re able to test market a lot of different products. It completely revolutionizes some of the education we can do. We really want to incorporate each department. Every department should find ways to get in here.”
The eHIVE also is integrated with The Nest, the on-campus apparel store.
“We had The Nest for a short time before we had the makers’ products and we weren’t able to provide the students with an opportunity to do test sales,” said Cassy Dorsch, director of eHIVE and The Nest. “We now have products that we make here in the Makerspace that go to The Nest. We have improved our apparel printing skills through our makerspace machines. We see a lot of interconnection. Students can make a product here, then get it to The Nest.”
The new eHIVE continues the work of the university’s award-winning Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.
In 2022, the program was presented the Rising Star Award for Excellence in Curriculum innovation in Entrepreneurship.
In October 2023, the eHIVE was named “Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Center” by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers.
“To our donors, we are so incredibly grateful,” Walls said. “I want you to know that you are changing lives.”
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