SC State’s BECT Institute gets awards from PwC and Howard

The award is to invest in technology and software training to enhance the digital skills of students, as well as faculty and staff.

The award will support the BECT Microsoft Office Specialist Training and Certification Center in the College of Business and Information Systems, which will provide training and certifications in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Access for students, faculty and staff.

The center will be able to accommodate up to 500 test takers across campus each year with training and certification exams at no cost. In addition to the MOS Training and Certification Center, BECT will conduct workshops on various software, including QuickBooks and Data Analytics.

“Digital technology has changed the world we live in,” said Dr. Barbara Adams, the BECT Institute’s executive director. “It has changed the way we communicate, how we learn and how information is processed in the workplace.”

“We want students who graduate from SC State to be proficient and prepared for the workforce. Digital credentials will let employers know that our students have achieved a certain level of skills. This award provides that opportunity,” she said.

Adams received a PwC Digital Enablement Award twice during her tenure as dean of the SC State College of Business and Information Systems. The previous awards were used to develop and implement a Technology and Digital Application course for business students, pay certification fees for students enrolled in the course and conduct digital seminars for students, faculty and staff. She recently participated in a PwC webinar along with 10 other HBCUs to make others aware of the benefits of the award.

PwC is a global network of firms delivering assurance, tax and consulting services for businesses. It is ranked as the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG.

For more information on the BECT Training and Certification Center, contact Dr. Barbara Adams at 803-516-4864.

Innovation Education award

The Institute of Business, Environment, Communications and Transportation (BECT) at South Carolina State University received one of 10 inaugural Innovation Education awards of $25,000 from Howard University and PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship.

The award was presented on June 16 in Washington, D.C., at the inaugural national conference, “Black Commerce: The Future of Entrepreneurship.” The goal is to “empower the next generation of Black entrepreneurs and expand the resources to enhance the capacity of Black-owned businesses.”

According to Howard University, “The National Center for Entrepreneurship is an innovative resource network focused on enhancing the Black entrepreneurship ecosystem at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and empowering Black entrepreneurs around the country. The National Center enhances the success and growth of Black-owned businesses through providing programming, capital, curriculum, research, and other resources in collaboration with HBCUs and their surrounding community.”

Four regional centers — Howard, Clark Atlanta University, Morgan State University and Texas Southern University — will connect with the other HBCUs to build a Black entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Dr. Barbara Adams, the BECT Institute’s executive director, said the award will support the SEED project — Students Engaged in Entrepreneurial Development — which is a program in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub in the SC State College of Business and Information Systems.

SEED will empower and challenge students across campus to become innovative and entrepreneurial thinkers through entrepreneurship activities including:

• “Venturethons” – During the Fall semester, a two-day weekend event will be held each month for three months whereby potential entrepreneurs will brainstorm on problems/opportunities that a new venture could resolve and develop a business model canvas around the idea.
• Pitch Competitions – At the end of each month in the fall, the Hub will host an Innovative Idea Pitch competition where students can compete for $500. During the Spring semester winners from these competitions will compete in a Startup competition for a total award of $5,000. This provides an opportunity for students to pitch their ideas to judges and earn funds to help with startups.
• Entrepreneurial Roundtable Series – The Hub will host a monthly roundtable for small groups of students to have a discussion with an entrepreneur who will share their story on what worked for them and what didn’t.
• Business Expo – The Business Expo will provide an opportunity each year for student entrepreneurs to showcase and sell their products/services/technologies.
• The Leadership Podcast Series – Student entrepreneurs may subscribe to a podcast series to learn leadership skills. Podcasts on various entrepreneurial topics will be developed and made available to students in the SEED program.
• The Small Business Board of Directors Program – Student entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to join a Small Business Board of Directors Program to learn from each other and receive counseling from an individual with years of business experience.
• An incubator program to provide working space and other resources to new startups.

The program will provide each participant with the opportunity to develop entrepreneurship and innovation skills through problem-solving, creativity, and practicing effective strategies to turn ideas into action.

For more information contact Dr. Barbara Adams at badams@scsu.edu or Mr. Zachary Thomas in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Hub at zthomas1@scsu.edu.