About CIE

Founded in November 2004, the Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship (CIE) established to advance understanding and foster the growth of innovative entrepreneurship in the global economy; CIE serves entrepreneurs, investors, economists, researchers and the general public and accomplished its mission through education, research, and communications initiatives.

Education:

• Provide entrepreneurs and private investors with Information and Support Services that facilitate their success and foster the growth of the Innovation Economy.
• Connect entrepreneurs and private investors to regional and local initiatives to build the Innovation Economy.

Research:

• Provide a venue for Economists, Researchers and Policymakers to study and engage in an informed dialogue about the Innovation Economy, entrepreneur-investor interactions, policies and effectiveness at driving innovation and entrepreneurial success.

Communications:

• Improve public and private decision-making through building awareness of the value of innovation and knowledge-based enterprises.

Unique Capabilities

Through the website vfinance.com, CIE has access to survey an unparalleled global audience of over 500,000 unique visitors annually, primarily comprised of entrepreneurs seeking capital and investors interested in private equity investment opportunities. The site reaches a broad cross-section of the entrepreneur audience because it is ranked by Google, Yahoo!, and other search engines for phrases such as "Venture Capital".

CIE Research

To fully develop the research capabilities of vfinance.com, CIE established a Center of Excellence for Web-based economic and behavioral research about the Innovation Economy. In July 2005, CIE completed a comprehensive, 5-month benchmarking study of the vfinance.com audience funded by the Kauffman Foundation. In addition, CIE has established Entrepreneur and Investor research panels for trend tracking and additional research.

CIE Research agenda is developed in conjunction with our Advisory Board comprised of leading academics, including:

• Dr. Zoltan Acs, University Professor, School for Public Policy, George Mason University
• Dr. Toby Stuart, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
• Dr. Robert W. Fairlie, Associate Professor and Director of Masters Program in Applied Economics and Finance, Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Dr. David Audretsche, Director, Institute for Development Strategies, Indiana University
• Dr. Sharon Alverez, Assistant Professor, Management & Human Resources, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University
• Dr. Nicholas M. Young, Assistant Professor Lally School of Management and Technology Severino Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Dr. Howard Aldrich, Professor & Department Chair, Sociology and Adjunct Professor of Management, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina
• Dr. John B. Elstrott, Director, Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, Freeman School of Business, Tulane University
• Dr. Scott Shane, Professor, Economics, A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
• Dr. Eric Flamholtz, President, Management Systems Consulting Corporation
• Dr. Robert Shapiro, Chairman, SONECON, LLC

Global Innovation Network

One of CIE's major initiatives is developing the premiere Global Innovation Network based on emerging communications and connections technology. This network connects entrepreneurs, investors, academics, policymakers and thought leaders in a virtual network designed to facilitate mentoring and accelerate the rate of innovation. It also expands CIE's ability to measure innovation as it happens and enables better understanding of the connections that drive private and public investment in innovative enterprise development. In addition, the Global Innovation Network will enable advance study of the Social Network Analysis within the Innovation Economy.

Economic Development

CIE is committed to supporting public and private programs that expand access to Innovation Economy though its education, research and consulting services. CIE identifies future opportunities for targeted growth and business cluster development for communities and regions by applying state-of-the-art methods that incorporate the unique insight provided by vfinance.com's Innovative Entrepreneurs to evaluate current economic development strengths and weaknesses, assessing future opportunities and threats, and developing economic strategic plans.

Contact Us

General Email and inquiries: cie@vfinance.com