Cameron Foundation donates to UNCW's Entrepreneurship Center

A gift from the Bruce Barclay Cameron Foundation could ultimately net $75,000 for University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Entrepreneurship Center.

The gift, announced Wednesday, consists of an outright $25,000 plus up to $25,000 in a dollar-for-dollar match. If UNCW raises $25,000 in matching funds, the center would receive the entire $50,000 from the Cameron Foundation.

“There is a high level of support in the regional business community for the UNCW Entrepreneurship Center and its work,” UCNW Chancellor Gary Miller said in a news release. “The EC exemplifies the innovative spirit of the university and serves as a catalyst for positive change in the community and the local economy. We are grateful for this gift from the Bruce Cameron Foundation and the continued support of UNCW by the Cameron family.”

Scott Sullivan, president of the Bruce Barclay Cameron Foundation, said he would like the foundation's gift to motivate other donors to support the center.

“The Entrepreneurship Center has energized students, entrepreneurs and local businesses by providing broad resources, from mentorships to avenues of financing, to our regional business community,” he said in the release. “A number of businesses have started here and grown here with support from the EC. That needs to continue.”

This is the second major community gift to the Entrepreneurship Center since its founding in 2009. Wachovia-Wells Fargo made a $100,000 gift, payable in four $25,000 yearly installments, in January 2010 to support the center’s goals of linking emerging and high-growth ventures, entrepreneurs and support organizations to stimulate economic growth, jobs and innovation.

The center has also been the beneficiary two individual gifts of $10,000 each, as well as several smaller gifts.

In February, UNCW reorganized the Entrepreneurship Center, formerly a part of the Cameron School of Business, into a Limited Liability Corporation under the UNCW Research Foundation.

Fran Scarlett, director of the southeastern regional Small Business & Technology Development Center, housed at UNCW, is currently the interim director of the Entrepreneurship Center.