Entrepreneurship at F&M

F&M will develop and pilot a new entrepreneurship center – the Venture and Impact Studio – thanks to support from alumni entrepreneurs. The Center will integrate innovation, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial skill-building across the curriculum and throughout F&M's campus.

The initiative is possible thanks to the generosity of fashion designer Veronica Beard ’94, real estate investor Robert L. Freedman ’70, venture capitalist Dean Hatton ’82, and business owners and restaurateurs Nicholas G. Nicholas ’70, P’07 and Jordan Nicholas ’07. Their philanthropy will provide the funding to plan, develop, and launch the Entrepreneurship Center beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year.

This Future Founders Leadership Fellows program is crafted to immerse you in the core values of entrepreneurship and innovation, drawing inspiration from the dynamic world of startup culture. Through this experience, you will develop a "builder's mindset" — learning to identify problems, create solutions, and lead with resilience. The fellowship provides a suite of programmatic characteristics designed to set you up for success from the beginning, including: 

• a four-year merit scholarship
• mentorship from a tenured professor with expertise in entrepreneurship
• a personal board of advisers, consisting of a mix of senior students, professional coaches, and local Lancaster mentors
• early access to popular entrepreneurship classes
• dedicated leadership workshops
• experiential learning projects with local organizations

We offer two entrepreneurship courses designed to complement the academic experience of F&M students looking to understand and put into practice the entrepreneurial process. Our courses are geared toward the development of entrepreneurial skills and mindsets that magnify the liberal arts experience across all academic concentrations. 

• INT274: “Entrepreneurial Thinking”
• INT375: “Entrepreneurial Discovery”

Outside the classroom, you can also engage in our extracurricular opportunities to further enrich your experience through practical application and exploration of your entrepreneurial ideas.

F&M Incubator

F&M Incubator is a semester-long program that serves as a launchpad for you to bring your creative solutions to life. You’ll work in a team and you may receive mentoring, specialized support, and/or project funding. You’ll also attend a series of workshops on customer identification, design thinking, marketing and legal considerations, and other topics. F&M Incubator is open to students looking to put into practice the skills and methodologies they acquired throughout the entrepreneurship curriculum, by tackling a startup venture of their own. 

Past students have worked on a number of exciting projects, including: 

• Improving healthcare connections between underserved patients and their providers
• Exploring a solution for better college course registration systems
• Emphasizing the importance of social justice education through a self-care company
• Create a community of college students to find affordable off-campus housing options during the off-season
• A technology platform matching local artists with people who would appreciate having original, local, affordable art on their walls at home, while supporting the local arts community. 

Summer Entrepreneurship Experience

Through our summer entrepreneurship experience, you’ll earn course credit and gain real-world experience for your resume while discovering and mastering the entrepreneurial skills needed to bring innovation to any organization. You’ll be matched as a paid intern with sponsoring startups, entrepreneurs, and other organizations that are looking to innovate or disrupt the status quo across a variety of industries. You’ll carry out strategic tasks for your organization while learning and applying best practice entrepreneurial techniques. 

Demo Day

Demo Day offers you the chance to make your unique idea a reality. During this program, you will present your idea to successful entrepreneurs and potential investors. Winners earn prize money to serve as start-up funding to bring your idea to life. 

Events

We often hold workshops, panels, and other events that introduce, discuss, or focus on entrepreneurship methods and insight. Our events regularly feature F&M alumni and members of the wider community who have changed the status quo in all sectors of the economy and society.