About Us

  		 
Message from the President
 

K. Mark Weaver, President-USASBE
Ben May Chair of Entrepreneurship
Executive Director, Melton Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Mitchell College of Business
University of South Alabama

Welcome to the premier organization dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship through best practices and leading edge perspectives – the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE)!

Twenty five years of building and growing USASBE into the premier organization/institution for entrepreneurship education has not been stopped by financial challenges facing our members and partners. We are continually promoting new ways to move the entrepreneurial spirit forward. Our Past President and his team created a new organizational and financial model that will keep us here for the next 25 years and are to be congratulated.

The theme for the next year and the conference in New Orleans in January 2012 will be Entrepreneurship: A Source of Renewal and Growth. This theme means we are in an ongoing renewal of USASBE to achieve the 1000 full member goal we have set for this year and move us to 2000 members within 3 years through new member benefits and reaching out to alliance partners.

USASBE is built around four pillars: education, research, outreach and public policy.  Education includes best practices in the areas of pedagogy, curriculum and course design, course delivery, and the creation of related educational programs that support students and entrepreneurs. These are shared with members to enhance the delivery of entrepreneurship education in a broad cross-section of educational environments.

USASBE is an affiliate of the International Council of Small Business (ICSB), which has supported entrepreneurship educators and advocates around the globe for over fifty years.

The challenge I presented at the conference in Hilton Head was to increase member benefits needed to update the Knowledge Exchange on the web with 500 new, updated syllabi, 200 new Innovations in teaching tools/exercises, and 100 new cases by mid-year. If our attendees only submitted the courses that they are teaching and what the information used in these courses we will meet these numbers. Based on member input we are also working with the web developers to group these tools into topics to ease your search.

Our new placement program under the leadership of Mary Jo Jackson is growing and we expect a “second market” is coming, because of the uncertainty of many university budgets, this market will come after early hires are made. USASBE is positioned to be a leader in that second market.

In addition, to promote research, sabbatical options and visiting positions, we are establishing a new Exchange section on the website that will allow people to expand their research and cooperate with other faculty to collect data, build cases, and expand course design efforts by checking who is doing what, when and how. We hope a visiting professor-sabbatical opportunities section will assist members in finding exciting and challenging places to learn.

We are continuing the identification of new alliance partners and will keep you informed as we find new sources of value to you. The Program Chair for 2012, Mindy Walls has formed a preliminary program committee and is moving the bar higher than ever for USASBE. The location of the meeting has some tremendous potential for possible events and speakers. You will be updated throughout the year as these are confirmed.

We NEED YOUR input!!! What would make your mind up about coming to the conference? What would get you to volunteer your efforts and time? Can you help identify sponsors and partners? Would you take time by simply telling us what would make a more valuable conference? YOU are the key to our growth and success. Please help us help you make USASBE an even more exciting place to visit-whether at our annual conference or on our web site, it is our goal to find tools you can use to make your life better. Rebecca White is the President Elect and will be searching for new ideas for the strategic planning retreat in late May. Send us your ideas and tell us how you want to be involved.

The entire USASBE team is working to build the organization to better help all of our members. We commit to the members that we will be transparent, open to new ideas and continue to seek more member involvement to stake out our own future.

As a professional academic organization, USASBE plays a preeminent role in advancing the discipline of entrepreneurship by serving our members.  Our value proposition includes:

  • the USASBE Annual Conference
  • subscriptions to Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and the Journal of Small Business Management as part of your membership
  • the Entrepreneurship Syllabus Exchange
  • our electronic and live career center
  • the national awards program
  • the USASBE newsletter, Liaison
  • our website with materials to support entrepreneurship educators
  • the USASBE special interest groups (SIGS) that interact with members on an ongoing basis regarding focused specialty areas within entrepreneurship, and
  • the ongoing development of new initiatives that serve entrepreneurship educators.

We are an organization of colleagues who believe in sharing with and helping one another. I invite you to become a part of the USASBE family through participation in the association’s interest groups, use of the many resources we offer through our on-line services, and involvement with the USASBE 2012 Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as President this year and I hope you will bring another colleague to USASBE 2012 because there are so many exciting things happening.

Mark Weaver. President USASBE
markweaver@usouthal.edu