Enactus to receive $20k donation

  Monday, December 16, 2013 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

One group’s loss is another one’s gain.

Pittsburg State University’s Enactus group has received a pledge of approximately $26,000 from the local and soon-to-be dissolved Alliance for Technology Commercialization organization. The ATC was part of the statewide Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp., which lost its state funding in 2011.

“When the state pulled its funding for KTEC, the ATC group lost both state and city funding,” said Steve Robb, chair of the ATC board. “We still have some money in the bank, and we were looking for another non-profit to support with those funds.”

Enter Enactus adviser Suzanne Hurt.

“I met with the ATC board and made a presentation about how Enactus could use those funds to further enhance our entrepreneur and employment efforts in our community,” Hurt said, “and the ATC board decided they’d like to support our efforts. We are extremely excited and most very grateful.”

Robb said ATC will make an initial grant of $6,000 to Enactus. In the next four to six months, the remaining $20,000 will be transferred to the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas and earmarked for Enactus.

Hurt said the funds will be used in three distinct ways: for Enactus community projects, for scholarships for students within the Innovation Engineering minor program and to supplement the group’s budget for the annual Opportunities in Business Day activity.

“Suzanne and the Enactus students are doing wonderful things in our community and region, and we feel that their purpose lines up with that of the ATC,” Robb said. “We’re excited to get to support them in this way.”