The Entrepreneurship Center
Barry Weisband, Director of The Entrepreneurship Center
The Entrepreneurship Center, housed within the UW Bothell Business Program, serves small businesses throughout the greater Seattle metropolitan area and the Pacific Northwest.
As TEC's director, Weisband is responsible for outreach, academic program development and oversight of consulting projects between teams of students and faculty members and selected business owners and senior managers. As a leader of business development and entrepreneurship educational programs, Weisband will maintain the high level of excellence that students, faculty, business owners and senior managers have come to know and appreciate from the TEC. His expertise in building and growing internal and external relationships will bring new linkages and partnerships to TEC and UW Bothell.
"TEC is a big part of what we do. We are delighted that Barry is able to join our community and look forward to building deeper relationships with businesses in our region," says, Sandeep Krishnamurthy, Business Program Director.
Weisband brings experience and wisdom gained over his 25 year career in the business and educational sectors. He has played significant leadership roles at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and the University of Oregon. In addition to his extensive healthcare marketing and business development expertise, Weisband led the University of Oregon's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship as executive director.
His academic background includes directing the entrepreneurship programs at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Weisband received his MS in Management and Policy Analysis from Carnegie Mellon University.
Weisband takes over the reins at the TEC from Brooks Gekler, who will continue to serve the business program as Executive-in-Residence, mentor and instructor.
Since its founding in 2006, TEC has assisted more than 165 business clients, conducted approximately 70 student team consulting projects and 80 one-on-one consulting engagements, providing services valued at more than $900,000 to local small businesses. In 2009, more than 60 percent of clients assisted were women and ethnic minority small business owners and 10 percent were nonprofit business organizations.
John Godek, Assistant Director
John is primarily responsible for the inaugural UWB Business Plan Competition presented by TEC and open to all UWB students. He is planning, and leading this signature event for TEC and the University of Washington Bothell. As an experienced educator, scholar, and leader in higher education, John brings his considerable marketing and managerial skills to ensure an extraordinary Business Plan Competition that will become a strong tradition at UWB for our students, faculty and Northwest business community.
John earned his PhD in Marketing and a M.S. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. an MBA from the University of Houston - Clear Lake, and a B.S. in Management from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In addition to teaching in the University of Washington Bothell Business Program this past year, John also taught Marketing and Entrepreneurship for six years at the University of Oregon, as well as spent two years teaching Leadership and Management at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
In addition to John's responsibilities at The Entrepreneurship Center, he teaches marketing and entrepreneurship courses in the business school at UWB including Entrepreneurial Marketing, New Product Development, and Introduction to Marketing.
Giving Area Businesses the Tools for Success...Offering Students Real-World Experience
The Entrepreneurship Center (TEC) at UW Bothell provides valuable problem-solving and strategic planning assistance to Snohomish-King County businesses while offering students exceptional educational experiences in real-world business environments.
Our professional advice and networking tools are customized for small businesses to help increase effectiveness, revenues and profits. Our expertise includes organizational development, e-commerce, marketing planning, and management of technology, human resources and finances.
We offer:
- One-on-one business counseling
- Student-and-faculty consulting teams from partner colleges
- Events and seminars
- Referrals to other resources and sources of assistance
- Additional tools and assistance to meet business needs
We encourage you to visit the sites linked below, as well as our menu items, to learn more about the work we do. Whether you’re a student interested in business management or a business owner looking for assistance, we’re here to help.
Please contact us at:
UW Bothell, Box 358533
18115 Campus Way NE
Bothell, WA 98011-8246
Phone: 425.352.3664
Email: bdcinfo@uwb.edu