Charleston, West Virginia-based BrickStreet Foundation has presented the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics with a $3 million gift, the largest corporate gift in the College’s history.
The gift creates the BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a financial commitment that will allow the College of Business and Economics to sustain its current programming and expand entrepreneurship education throughout West Virginia.
“I want to thank the BrickStreet Foundation for this investment in our students and in the future of West Virginia,” WVU President Jim Clements said. “This gift to our College of Business and Economics will help our faculty and staff inspire entrepreneurship in our students and open doors for future generations to find success right here in West Virginia. This gift will literally change lives and we are extremely grateful to the BrickStreet Foundation for giving our faculty and staff such an incredible opportunity to make a difference.”
“It gives me great pleasure to announce the BrickStreet Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” said Jose V. “Zito” Sartarelli, Milan Puskar Dean. “The announcement of this $3 million gift to our College by the BrickStreet Foundation signifies much more than the naming of the center. It signifies a transformation at our business school that encompasses increased opportunities for entrepreneurial education, access for younger audiences to entrepreneurial thought and education, and an environment where new technologies, new companies and new jobs are born.”
The BrickStreet Foundation is the corporate giving arm of BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company, one of the largest writers of workers’ compensation coverage in the nation.
“We are proud to be able to support West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics’ Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” said Greg Burton, president and CEO of BrickStreet Insurance. “Many of our employees are WVU graduates — some from the College of Business and Economics — so our partnership with the university runs deep. Our Board is deeply committed and, on behalf of the management team and staff, we are excited to be a part of the future of education and business in the Mountain State.”
Sartarelli said the gift will allow the College of Business and Economics to sustain its current programming and expand entrepreneurship education throughout West Virginia, elevating the quality and number of programs offered.
“BrickStreet’s generosity will help us enhance our offerings in academics, programming and experiential learning,” said Sartarelli. “Innovation and entrepreneurship span across several different colleges and several different majors at West Virginia University. This will open more and new doors of opportunity for students, and create new and better avenues for innovation and entrepreneurship at WVU.”
The contribution was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $750 million comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2015.
For further information on the WVU College of Business and Economics, please visit www.be.wvu.edu .
