Irving Foundation Donates $5M To SMU Entrepreneurship Centre
HALIFAX – The Irving family is attaching its name, literally, to one of Saint Mary’s University’s best-known institutions.
Thanks to a $5-million donation from the Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation, the Saint Mary’s University Entrepreneurship Centre (SMUEC) will become the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre.
According to a March 30 news release, the donation will help “accelerate expansion” of SMUEC.
SMUEC was founded in 1989 by Dr. Colin Dodds. Dodds is a former SUM president but in 1989 was the Dean of Commerce. It was modeled on American-based University Business Development Centres (UBDCs) that use business students to help local entrepreneurs.
Among other things, SMUEC administers an Exploration Fund that offers as much as $25,000 in SAFE agreements to budding businesses. It also works with RBC on the Future Launch Program on the RBC Talent Hub at the St. Mary’s campus.
In the last five years, the centre claims to have engaged more than 4,000 students and 3,000 businesses in support and promotion activities.
The new Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre that will take its place is already under construction on the SMU campus. It will sit on the second floor, and be the “centrepiece” of, the $43-million Sobeys Inspiration Hub, which is slated to open in the fall of 2023.
It will house several different “innovative and collaborative spaces,” including a digital prototyping lab and a podcasting studio.
Michael Sanderson, the director of the Saint Mary’s Entrepreneurship Centre, said in a news release the university is “deeply grateful” for the Irving family’s generosity.
“Their belief in the mission of the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre, their commitment to student scholarship and entrepreneurship, and their generosity enables us to enhance Saint Mary’s University’s national reputation and international reach as a leader in entrepreneurial education,” he said.
Sandra Irving said she hopes the centre will “spark innovation, inspire collaboration, and help to make students’ dreams a reality.”