2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

New entrepreneurs and startup companies typically have genuine needs but sometimes need more resources to execute them promptly. This could delay a product or service launch, leading to a missed opportunity to gain market share. Some of the needs are beyond their expertise and may require multidisciplinary teams to help them reach the next level. To help the startup companies and entrepreneurs at XXX (blinded) in XXX (blinded), which is a food desert, the XXX (blinded) program at the University of XXX was instituted to provide opportunities for multidisciplinary teams to work with entrepreneurs, startup companies, and government organizations to provide value for them while learning about innovation and entrepreneurship. This paper presents the framework of the program and analyzes the feedback from the major stakeholders. The XXX (blinded) started with a generous donation from an alumnus to support programs that help to break the silos in academia. Consequently, the XXX (blinded) Program, piloted in the fall of 2021 with business and engineering students, now includes students from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of XXX. The students have their regular course loads and, in addition, put in 10 hours of work each week by working on projects for the entrepreneurs. The students are paid from the program’s fund. During the 2021/22 academic year, the students’ work helped to secure financial support from the PNC Bank to support minority-owned businesses in the XXX area. The program’s success has led to the donor donating an additional $100,000 to sustain the program. Generally, the students have enhanced their communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Most students indicated that the program helped them critically review problems and communicate effectively in multidisciplinary teams. Additionally, the clients expressed satisfaction with the students’ work ethics and the quality of project deliverables. Thus, the program offers students an experiential learning opportunity to enhance their entrepreneurial and problem-solving skills while providing value for community partners through transdisciplinary learning.