EIU Media Relations

Public Invited to SEED Center Grand Opening

The public is invited to the Sustainable Entrepreneurship through Education & Development (SEED) Center’s grand opening on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at Eastern Illinois University.

The SEED Center is the established home of entrepreneurial education, research and community partnerships. The facility provides students, faculty, staff and community members with resources to grow as entrepreneurs and develop comprehensive business plans.  

To further show EIU’s commitment to entrepreneurs and celebration of the center, two business owners will share their own ventures in the publishing world during the grand opening. The lecture is titled “Niche Entrepreneurs: The Publishing Business.”

Steve Raymond, publisher of The Effingham & Teutopolis News Report, will speak with Anne Hartnett, EIU alumnus and managing partner/publisher of Agent Publishing from Chicago, on developing a business in the publishing industry.

Raymond is the owner/publisher of The Effingham & Teutopolis News Report. Before owning his own newspaper, Raymond worked as sports editor, city editor, advertising sales representative, ad manager, general manager and publisher in the newspaper industry.

Hartnett is the co-founder and current managing partner of Agent Publishing, a B2B digital media company that supports real estate professionals with information, news and education.

Hartnett was recently named as one of Techweek Chicago’s 2014 Women’s Leadership fellows, a program to showcase and enable emerging female leaders in business and technology, and 2014 Folio’s Top Women in Media.

The lecture is only one example of the resources available at the center.

“From one-on-one entrepreneurial coaching to training workshops throughout the community, Eastern Illinois University is committed to providing a home for students and community members to grow their own entrepreneurial ventures,” said Marko Grünhagen, director of the SEED Center.

“The center also supports our entrepreneurship minor, which is focused on providing students with hands-on experience under the direction of experienced faculty,” Grünhagen continued.

The SEED Center will continue to offer the outreach efforts of the Business Solutions Center, which provided community development with entrepreneurial coaching and local, state and national resources since 2008.

“The Business Solutions Center is now integrated into the SEED center,” Grünhagen said. “The integration and name change emphasize that EIU’s primary focus is promoting entrepreneurship through integrative learning.

“Our primary education goal is to create an understanding of starting and managing a profitable business throughout EIU and the community,” Grünhagen continued. “We want to create a lasting culture of entrepreneurship.”

The open house of the center will be from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 3011 of EIU’s Lumpkin Hall. The lecture will be from 5-6:30 p.m. in Roberson Auditorium, Room 2030, in Lumpkin Hall.

For more information about the SEED Center, click here. To learn more about entrepreneur coaching for students and community members, click here.