By Jonah Grinkewitz
If you Google "transitional entrepreneurship," Old Dominion University is the first name that pops up.
The term, coined by ODU researchers, 指的是那些为了实现有意义的生活或职业转型而创业的企业家，他们面临着巨大的逆境.
These individuals could be military veterans, minorities, women, immigrants, refugees or people living in economically distressed communities.
Around the time ODU began looking into these groups, 当地企业家玛莎·哈金斯(Marsha Hudgins)找到该大学的斯特罗姆商学院(Strome College of Business)，讨论她如何才能支持这群人.
Hudgins, 她在1976年获得了ODU的MBA学位，现在在纽波特纽斯经营着哈金斯承包公司, 希望为缺乏资源和机会的企业家提供公平的竞争环境.
“他们给它起了一个名字——过渡性创业——这正是我想要看到的," she said. "And I thought, 'I could help make this a reality.'"
Partly through a donation from Hudgins, ODU launched the Hudgins Transitional Entrepreneurship Lab in 2019.
该实验室的目标是为汉普顿路服务不足社区的企业家提供教育和授权, guiding them from the planning process to execution.
Common challenges include access to financial capital, 来自支持组织和关键利益相关者的高质量网络和指导机会和承诺.
The Lab's leadership initially focused on southeastern Newport News, where they've offered workshops at the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center.
他们每月还会举办“咖啡见面会”，让学员们与业内能够帮助他们取得成功的当地企业家建立联系.
Local mentors include Blair Durham with Black Brand, Antione Hines with Veteran's Home Front, Sharon Scannell with Strome Entrepreneurship Center, George Berry with Berry Food Trucking, Benicia Hernandez with Life's Journey and Aazia Mickens-Dessaso with Techstars.
Eventually, 该实验室的负责人希望让ODU的学生作为实习生直接与企业家一起工作，并获得该领域的实际经验.
"The Lab's focus is three-pronged: to engage our students, engage the community and generate research," said Anil Nair, professor of management and department chair.
Jay O'Toole, assistant professor of management and deputy director for the Hudgins Lab, 说他们工作的一个重要方面是在社区中建立和维护关系.
"It's hard to move forward, especially with transitional entrepreneurs, 不了解社区和他们想要服务的人的具体需求," he said. "Transitional entrepreneurship looks different than what you read about in the Wall Street Journal or The New York Times; a thrust of the entrepreneurship is serving the community or neighborhood."
Robert Pidduck, assistant professor of management and director for the Hudgins Lab, echoed these sentiments.
“我们正在处理一种创业类型，它有所有这些问题，使实验室与众不同," he said.
The lab has four official mentees right now, focused on entrepreneurial efforts such as faith-based counseling, investigating elder-care abuse and bookkeeping for small businesses.
One mentee, Aletha Russell, 创立了一个全天然护肤系列，名为“她的蒸汽”，其座右铭是:“如果它不能进入你的身体。, it shouldn't go on your body."
罗素说:“该实验室具有创新精神，能够满足当今企业的最新需求。. "Jay O'Toole was a great mentor and offered an abundant amount of resources."
此外，哈金斯实验室的工作已经获得了研究经费.
In September 2021, 奥图尔获得了小企业发展中心(SBDC)的资助，用于探索弗吉尼亚州少数族裔企业家的需求.
这个话题的灵感来自于哈金斯实验室研讨会上关于黑人企业家如何在黑人社区之外扩大客户群的讨论.
In addition, Nair was awarded the $400,000 E.M. 考夫曼基金将支持斯特罗姆商学院和最靠谱的网赌软件创新与创业研究所(IIE)在转型创业方面的多项举措.
Although most of the lab's work started during the pandemic, it hasn't stopped it from holding successful virtual events.
In June 2021, 考夫曼主办的关于转型企业精神的虚拟讨论会有来自17个国家的130多名与会者参加. 这笔赠款还支持另外三次会议，下一次会议计划在6月举行. 这些会议将有助于促进这一领域的前沿研究，并展示ODU的创业倡议.
"Talk about thought leaders," Hudgins said. "The whole concept may have been bandied about for years, but transitional entrepreneurship is straight from ODU."
“哈金斯实验室帮助我们将过渡性创业的研究纳入重点，这个概念在世界各地引起了共鸣," Nair added.
该实验室还将于4月23日在布鲁克斯十字中心举行一次面对面的研讨会, the first one they've done since the pandemic started.
该活动将为汉普顿路现有或有抱负的企业家提供一个交流机会，讲座旨在为人们提供实用的见解.
Hudgins, 在她的父母和祖父母从希腊移民过来后，她看到了创业的力量改变了他们的生活, 他说，当服务不足的社区通过这样的机会感到有能力时，他们就有更多的机会成功.
"They need to have a place to go, 和那些认真对待他们的人交谈，向他们展示一个想法是如何变成现实的," she said. "Once we do that, 他们可以留在那里，通过在那里建立自己的业务来投资这些社区, 通过雇佣当地的员工，提高当地社区的社会资本. 对他们来说，为自己所做的事情感到自豪是至关重要的."
Click here to learn more about the Hudgins Transitional Entrepreneurship Lab.
