History of the E-Center
1972

CoB offers first course in Small Business Planning; becomes charter member of the
Small Business Institute (SBI) Program. John Goering is the first SBI Director.
1973

"How to Create and Manage Your Own Business Empire" seminar offered in TUC, April
28-29.
1974

Professor Tim Johnson offers first graduate entrepreneurship course.
1982

Charles H. Matthews becomes Director if the SBI Program. Revitalizes the program from
four cases per year to over 30 per year over the next decade.
1984

CoB forms coalition with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to help small
businesses in the Greater Cincinnati area.
1987

John Goering founds the Goering Center for Family and Privately Held Firms.
1990


Dr. Sidney L. Barton named first Director of Goering Center.
MBA SBI team wins first place in the SBIDA Field Case Competition Region V and goes
on to become a national finalist.
1991

CoB hosts delegations from the Soviet Union and Africa; participants learn about
entrepreneurship, corporate venturing, strategic planning, and small business education
in the U.S.
1992

Dr. Charles Barngrover offers first undergraduate Entrepreneurship New Venture
Creation Class.
1993

The E-Center hosts the 1st Annual Young Entrepreneurs Seminar.
1995


Over the past decade, the SBI program under the direction of Professor Matthews
generates over $140,000 in grants from the U.S. SBA to further small, entrepreneurial,
and family business education and research mission in the CoB.
CoB begins to host its annual mentoring program for delegations from the Business for
Russia/Community Connections Program.
1996

CoB receives $25,000 Entrepreneurial Education Awareness Grant. CoB establishes an
Integral Concentration in Entrepreneurship/Family Business at the undergraduate level.
1997



Dr. Charles H. Matthews formally founds the U.C. Center for Entrepreneurship Education
and Research in the CoB.
CoB unveils new undergraduate integral concentration in Entrepreneurship/Family
Business.
CoB and the U.C. Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research hosts the first
annual UC MBA New Venture Competition in Carl H. Lindner Hall. The winner of this
competition will represent U.C. in regional and national competitions.
1998



CoB enters its first external MBA Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition, The
Midwestern Invitational Business Plan Case Competition. CoB team, Made to Order
Marketing, takes second place.
Matdan America receives 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition hosted
by SCORE and the UC SBI Program.
Three delegations representing 7 Arabic speaking countries, guests from the University
of the Orange Free State, and a Business for Russia delegation from Yaroslavl, Russia
visit the E-Center.
1999




Horizon Health Care & Fitness places 1st in the UC MBA Business Plan Competition; the
team advances to participate in the Midwest Regional Business Plan Competition.
CD World, Inc. takes 1st place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition.
Visiting delegations from the Middle East, South Africa, Russia, and the Ukraine learn
about entrepreneurship education programs at E-Center in the College of Business.
CoB and the U.C. Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research holds first
Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet. Dr. Charles L. Barngrover receives the inaugural
Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
2000


CoB enters the IU MBA Business Plan Case Competition and Britech, Inc., a joint effort
between CoB and Engineering students, takes third place out of 12 teams. Britech also
enters the University of Oregon New Venture Championship and finishes in the top five
out of 20 teams.
Fascinating, Inc. receives 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition and 1st
Place at the SBIDA National Field Case of the Year Competition.


CoB and the U.C. Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research hold the second
Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet. CoB alum, Mr. Jeff Wyler, receives the second
annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
The fourth annual Young Entrepreneurs Seminar (YES) attracts over 100 tri-state high
school seniors from over a dozen high schools for a day-long event held in Donald Core
Tangeman University Center. The program features both industry experts and a panel of
young entrepreneurs sharing their experiences with the next entrepreneurial generation.
YES is co-sponsored by 5/3 Bank, the U.C. Small Business Development Center, the
CoB and the U.C. Center for Entrepreneurship Education and Research, and the U.S.
SBA.
2001





E-Center faculty present Strategic Lessons for New Venture Formation to a visiting
delegation from Inner Mongolia.
Generatrix receives 1st Place in the UC CoB-MBA Business Plan Competition, and the
City of Montgomery team takes 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition.
Mr. Tony Shipley and Dr. Timothy Johnson receive the Award for Entrepreneurial
Excellence at the 3rd Annual Entrepreneurship Recognition Awards Banquet.
The E-Center is ranked “One of the Top 50 Schools for Entrepreneurship” by Success
Magazine.
The E-Center receives a $50,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation. Thanks in part to
the Coleman grant, the Bearcat Bridge Fund is established to award seed money to
students for new venture launch.
2002






Center faculty host a delegation from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China on
turning entrepreneurial ideas into action.
Physiomics places 1st in the UC CoB-MBA Business Plan Competition and ISETEK
receives 1st Runner Up. Physiomics advances to compete in the University of Oregon
New Venture Championship and receives 1st Place in the Lightning Round, as well as 2 nd
Place in the Dayton I-Zone Competition. ISETEK enters the MBA Jungle Business Plan
Challenge in NY and is named a finalist, one of only 8 out of 225 teams.
Tri-State Plastics receives 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition; the
team goes on to take 1st Place in the National SBI Case of the Year Competition.
Mr. Christopher Bergen and Dr. Candace Kendle receive the Award for Entrepreneurial
Excellence at the 4th Annual E-Banquet.
The E-Center receives a $50,000 grant from the Kauffman Foundation.
Physiomics, ISETEK, PIG-E-BANK.com, and Solano Interiors receive the first Bearcat
Bridge Fund awards.
2003




Center faculty host visiting delegations from Baku, Azerbaijan in conjunction with the
Greater Cincinnati International Visitors’ Center.
Marcato Percussion is awarded 1st Place at the UC CoB-MBA Business Plan Competition
and Medeven receives 1st Runner Up; Marcato advances to the IU MBA Business Plan
Competition. Both Marcato and Medeven receive Bearcat Bridge Fund awards.
Coupon Management Systems, Inc. receives the CEO NCIIA Technology
Entrepreneurship Award Honorable Mention/Runner Up.
Kelley’s Custom Framing (1st Place, Cecil Boatright Competition) and Genomatix USA
(1st Runner Up, Cecil Boatright Competition) both advance to the regional SBI Field Case
Competition. Kelley’s Custom Framing receives Best Graduate Case in the Specialty



Category; Genomatix receives Best Graduate Case in the Comprehensive Category, and
1st Place in the National SBI Competition.
The 5th Annual E-Banquet award recipients are announced: Dr. Donald Harrison and Dr.
Jason Lemon, Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; Dr. George Rieveschl, Jr., Inaugural
Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship; Dr. Frank Zemlan, Inaugural
Emerging Entrepreneur Award; Dr. Jaingesh Sekhar, Inaugural Established Entrepreneur
Award.
The E-Center partners with the UC Career Development Center, UC Main Street, UC
Small Business Development Center, and the Ohio Statewide Minority Business
Development Center to present the 1st Annual Careers in Business Ownership
Workshop.
CoB is named “One of the Top Tier Entrepreneurial Colleges” by Entrepreneur Magazine.
UC placed in the top tier (13 colleges) of all regional entrepreneurship programs, out of
700 evaluated nationwide.
2004








Center faculty host two delegations from St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as a third from
Turku, Finland.
Apartmentfrog, inc. receives 1st Place in the UC CoB-MBA Business Plan Competition;
Agri-Solutions, LLC receives 1st Runner Up, and Quarkboard, LLC is named 2nd Runner
Up.
Apartmentfrog, inc., BabysitEase, and Coleross Corporation are Bearcat Bridge Fund
recipients.
HyTek Coatings, Inc. is awarded 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition,
and lands 3rd Place in the National SBI Graduate Comprehensive Competition.
E-Banquet award recipients are announced: Mr. Donald “Buddy” LaRosa, Award for
Entrepreneurial Excellence; Mr. Ed Wedbush, UC Lifetime Achievement Award for
Entrepreneurship; Dr. Eric Gruenstein, Established Entrepreneur Award; Dr. David
Melvin, Emerging Entrepreneur Award; Dr. Christy Holland, Honorable Mention.
The E-Center announces its first undergraduate scholarship for business students with
an entrepreneurship concentration. The inaugural California Scents Scholarship, made
possible by Mr. and Mrs. Gus Doppes, is awarded to Mr. Derek Brown.
Mr. Everett F. Telljohann and Mr. William J. Keating, Jr. join the E-Center Advisory
Board.
Cincinnati Creates Companies (CCCI) is launched, thanks to a $600,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation Program. Center Director, Dr.
Charles Matthews, designs the curriculum for the ventures and the inaugural group of 16
new technology focused ventures graduates from the program and 5 are awarded nearly
$200,000 in start-up capital.
2005



Center faculty host a 10 member delegation from Tyumen, Russia in cooperation with the
Greater Cincinnati International Visitors’ Center, as well as an International Executive
Education group from China.
Pizzeria Fresco is awarded 1st Place in the UC CoB-MBA Business Plan Competition and
Orinoco Studios receives 1st Runner Up.
The E-Center together with Cincom Systems, Inc. hosts its inaugural invitational business
plan competition: The UC Spirit of Enterprise New Venture Competition. Top schools
from across the country compete for nearly $20,000 in cash prizes, including the $10,000
Cincom Spirit of Enterprise Champion Award donated by CoB alum Tom Nies, founder of
Cincom. The University of Oregon claims 1st Place and UC’s Pizzeria Fresco receives
the $5,000 Key Bank Award for 1st Runner Up.








Brownstone Gallery takes 1st Place in the Cecil Boatright Field Case Competition. Two
undergraduate teams, Mission Controls and Clovernook Country Club, receive additional
recognition.
The 2nd cohort of Cincinnati Creates Companies (CCCII) begins with 12 new technology
driven ventures.
The E-Center receives a $103,000 grant from the Coleman Foundation to sustain the
Bearcat Bridge Fund and create the UC Alumni Entrepreneurship Network (AEN).
Plans are announced for the creation of the Charles L. Barngrover Professorship for
Entrepreneurship & Family Business.
E-Banquet award recipients are announced: Mr. Tom Humes, Award for Entrepreneurial
Excellence; Mr. Tom Nies and Dr. Leland Clark, UC Lifetime Achievement Award for
Entrepreneurship; Dr. James Hillard, Established Entrepreneur Award; and Dr. Wim Van
Ooij, Emerging Entrepreneur Award.
The E-Center announced its second undergraduate scholarship for business students
with an entrepreneurship concentration to Jenna N. Lucius, CoB ’07, made possible by
Mr. and Mrs. Gus Doppes.
The E-Center partners with the UC Career Development Center, UC Main Street, UC
Small Business Development Center, and the Ohio Statewide Minority Business
Development Center to present the 3rd Annual Careers in Business Ownership
Workshop.
The eleventh annual Young Entrepreneurs Seminar (YES) attracts nearly 150 tri-state
high school seniors from over a dozen high schools for a day-long event held in the newly
refurbished Donald Core Tangeman University Center. The program features both
industry experts and a panel of young entrepreneurs sharing their experiences with the
next entrepreneurial generation. YES is co-sponsored by 5/3 Bank, the UC Small
Business Development Center, the CoB and the UC Center for Entrepreneurship
Education and Research, and the U.S. SBA.
2006







Progressive Cooling Solutions, led by Engineering student Ahmed Shuja, is awarded
First Place in the Ninth Annual UC MBA New Venture Competition.
The Ecenter and Cincom Systems, Inc. partner to host the second annual UC Spirit of
Enterprise MBA Business Plan Competition in February. The First Place $10,000
Cincom Spirit of Enterprise award goes to Sano Gene Therapeutics from the University of
Illinois – Chicago; First Runner-Up (Spirit of Excellent award $3,500) to Neurolife from
Carnegie Mellon University; and Second Runner-up (Queen City Angels First Fund award
$2,000) to Progressive Cooling Solutions from the University of Cincinnati.
The Winton Place Community Council SBI team takes First Place in the 2006 Cecil
Boatright Business Plan Competition, while the Corryville Suzuki Project team receives
First Runner-up in the graduate division. The LeanCor LLC team took top honors in the
undergraduate division.
The 3rd cohort of Cincinnati Creates Companies (CCCIII) begins with 12 new technology
driven ventures.
Progressive Cooling Solutions goes on to take 1st Runner-up honors in the Stuart Clark
New Venture Competition and takes Best New Technology award in the 2006 MOOT
Corp Competition.
The Third Annual California Scents Scholarship is awarded to Hailey J. Werthasier
The Ecenter hosts the Eighth Annual UC Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet in May.
Award recipients included: Dr. Dane A. Miller, UC Lifetime Achievement Award for
Entrepreneurship; Mr. Neil Van Uum, Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; Dr. Estel D.
Sprague and Mr. Robert T. Voorhees, Emerging Faculty Entrepreneur Achievement
Award; and Dr. Steven T. Boyce, Established Faculty Entrepreneur Achievement Award.
Progressive Cooling Solutions receives $5,000 Bearcat Bridge Fund award.

In August, the E-Center in concert with the Global Center of Cincinnati, International
Visitors Council and World Affairs Council, hosts another Community Connections
delegation welcoming a group from Maikop, Republic of Adigea, Russia.
2007








Bioinformatics, led by MSIS student Ralph Brueggemann, is awarded First Place in the
Tenth Annual UC MBA New Venture Competition.
The Ecenter and Cincom Systems, Inc. again partner to host the third annual UC Spirit of
Enterprise MBA Business Plan Competition in February. The First Place $10,000
Cincom Spirit of Enterprise award goes to Anson Enterprises from the Loyola Marymount
University; First Runner-Up (Spirit of Excellent award $3,000) to RJS, LLC from the
University of Louisville; and Second Runner-up (Queen City Angels First Fund award
$2,000) to Optimal Vision Corp from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
The Winton Place Community Council SBI team, Sarah Ramsey, Christopher Roesing,
and Stephanie Trautwein, took First Place in the 2006 Cecil Boatright Business Plan
Competition and goes on to take 3rd Place in the 2007 National Small Business Institute®
Case of the Year Competition.
The 4th cohort of Cincinnati Creates Companies (CCCIV) begins with 10 new technology
driven ventures. In the fourth CCCIV Business Plan Competition, the first place team
overall was Aero Surgical Systems, presented by company founders Ravi Samy and Al
Bosse, taking home the $10,000 first place check. The 2nd place team was HOPS
Technology, Inc., presented by company founder Pamla Winther, taking home the $7,500
prize check. The third place check for $5,000 went to Tradicom LLC Chef 24/7, presented
by founders Jean-Francois Flechet and Johan Kars. This cohort closes out the $600,000
NSF Partners in Innovation grant focused on Technology Entrepreneurship.
The Fourth Annual California Scents Entrepreneurship Scholarship was awarded to Ryan
McMullen.
The Albert Goering Memorial Entrepreneurship Scholarship was awarded to Kristin
Mikkelson.
The Ecenter hosts the 9th Annual UC Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet in May.
Award recipients included: Elroy E. Bourgraf, UC Lifetime Achievement Award for
Entrepreneurship; Jean Inkrot, David Lima, and Tillie Hidalgo Lima , Award for
Entrepreneurial Excellence; Ricardo Higgs, OCIR & Co. LLC received the $5,000 Bearcat
Bridge Fund award.
The 14th Annual Young Entrepreneurs Seminar (YES) was held Dec. 7th. A record
attendance of over 190 high school juniors and seniors from 12 schools attended the day
long event featuring a morning keynote address by Mr. Cliff Bailey, founder of TechSoft.
2008



BuyStonesOnline, Inc., led by MBA student Divy Chaurasia, is awarded First Place in the
Eleventh Annual UC MBA New Venture Competition.
The Ecenter and Cincom Systems, Inc. again partner to host the fourth annual UC Spirit
of Enterprise MBA Business Plan Competition in February. The First Place $10,000
Cincom Spirit of Enterprise award goes to ArmyProperty.com from the University of
Michigan; First Runner-Up (Spirit of Excellent award $3,000) to ProactiCare, LLC from
the University of Wisconsin; Second Runner-up (Queen City Angels First Fund award
$2,000) to Adora Interactive Corporation from the Indiana University; and Third Runnerup Championship Round Excellence Award ($500) to TakeShape LLC, University of
Oregon.
University of Cincinnati (UC) part-time MBA students Shannon Rappach, Michele Phelps
and Jennifer Bellin — under the guidance of UC Prof. Charles H. Matthews — bring
home the first-place prize for their field-case consulting project for Cincinnati public








broadcasting system television station WCET (channel 48). The Case of the Year
competition is sponsored by the Small Business Institute®. The team took First Place in
the 2007 Cecil Boatright Business Plan Competition in order to move on to the national
round.
With the CET Connect team taking first place in the 2007-08 Small Business Institute®
Case of the Year Competition, over the past eight years, UC teams have earned four first
place finishes, two third place, and one Honorable Mention.
UC’s first undergraduate entrepreneurship team went on the road entering the Tepper
Venture Challenge at Carnegie Mellon University. Grandeur Medical, a platform medical
device company, led by Phil Gettinger, Biomedical Engineering, CoE, finished in the top
six out of 25 teams competing.
Dr. Charles H. Matthews, Executive Director, UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education
& Research, was honored to receive recognition as one of the top Entrepreneurship
Educators in the U.S. from the Acton Foundation.
David Roth, CoB ’09, received a $1,000 scholarship from the Acton Foundation as part of
the award ceremony in Austin, TX.
Dr. Charles H. Matthews, Executive Director, UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education
& Research was asked to testify before the U.S. House Small Business Committee on
the reauthorization bill pending before Congress on the Small Business Innovation
Research program.
The Fourth Annual California Scents Entrepreneurship Scholarship was awarded to
Kristin Mikkelson.
The Albert Goering Memorial Entrepreneurship Scholarship was awarded to the following
students: Jennifer Masyln, Ryan McMullen, Jeremy Reed, and Amy Stroh .
The Ecenter hosts the 10th Anniversay Annual UC Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet
May 15th. Award recipients included: Oscar Robertson, UC Lifetime Achievement Award
for Entrepreneurship; Ken Oaks, Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence; Dr. Fred Beyette,
Emerging Faculty Entrepreneur Achievement Award; and Ms. Lisa Holstrom, Established
Faculty Entrepreneur Achievement Award. The following student entrepreneurs
received Bearcat Bridge Fund awards: Grandeur Medical – Philip Gettinger; Buy Stones
Online, Inc. – Divy Chaurasia; Guerrilla Grub – Stephen Norman; and Jellyfish Network –
Tyler Weaver.