Drexel University announced a collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., on a new initiative that will help diverse business owners enhance their leadership and business acumen and strengthen and grow their companies. The inaugural cohort of the newly launched “Merck Drexel Advanced Leadership Program for Diverse Suppliers (Merck Drexel ALP)” began coursework for the four-month certificate program last week.

The Raynier Institute & Foundation, a Seattle-based philanthropic organization with Philadelphia roots, has partnered with Drexel University and the University City Science Center to improve access to capital for minority entrepreneurs in the area. The institutions will collaboratively manage a seed fund created by a $500,000 grant from the Foundation, which was founded by an heir of Philadelphia transportation and real estate magnate Peter Widener, and supports programs of high merit for the betterment of humanity.

Vibhas Madan, PhD, has been named dean of the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business and R. John Chapel, Jr. Dean's Chair. He had served as interim dean since November 2019.

Seven years after disrupting the landscape by becoming the first entrepreneurship school in the nation to reside outside of a business school, the Charles D. Close School has moved to number 12 in the nation in the 2021 Princeton Review rankings, while simultaneously being recognized for its innovative and high-quality programs through first-time inclusion in Drexel’s business education accreditation.

WOLF Financial and their WOLF app was imagined before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but became all the more needed and was rushed into production back in March. A mere eight months later, student entrepreneurs behind the app took top prize in the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship’s first virtual Startup Fest and Baiada Incubator Competition.

Identifying the growing trend in the industry, Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business is offering a new esport major within the already successful Sport Business program. The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) with an Esport Business major is designed for students who plan to pursue careers in the competitive video gaming industry.

With a new virtual format and a focus on supporting COVID-19 recovery efforts in the Philadelphia region, the 2020 B. PHL festival — a celebration of the city’s creative spirit — will bring together innovators for three days of talks, workshops, meet-ups and curated experiences from the city and around the world. Admission to this year’s festival is free, with the option to make a donation to the PHL COVID-19 fund. Drexel University leadership, faculty and professional staff members, including President John Fry, will participate in several events during the festival, which will be held from Sept. 15-17.

As demand for more sustainable food practices increases, Drexel Food Lab, the culinary innovation lab within Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, and Terrain Cafe have partnered to meet the challenge. Together, the Drexel Food Lab and Terrain Cafe will focus on up-cycling foods and creating sustainable menus through Terrain Cafe’s “Chef’s Fresh Picks,” a weekly specials menu that runs Friday through Saturday evenings.

The Philadelphia Business Journal has recognized Moore, Drexel’s vice president of real estate and facilities, as one of the top minority business leaders in the region for 2020.

Alumni, adjunct faculty and a student co-op are creating labels illustrating spaces six feet apart. And, they’re donating them to life-sustaining businesses.

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the U.S. economy and labor markets in an unprecedented way. The leisure, hospitality and retail industries have been hit the hardest by shutdown orders nationwide but new research that uses data from Homebase, a time-tracking software, to provide real-time employment estimates shows that the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, expected later this week, may not capture the full extent of the contraction.

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Marketing Analytics, LeBow College of Businessan assistant professor of Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems at Drexel University’s Matthew Schneider, PhD, and Dawn Iacobucci, PhD, of Vanderbilt University, proposed a new methodology that permanently alters survey datasets to protect consumers’ privacy —when data is shared— while still preserving a level of reasonable accuracy for these datasets.