The College of Charleston’s Center for Entrepreneurship in the School of Business is being relaunched under the new direction of David Desplaces, assistant professor of entrepreneurship. Brenda Dispenza, MBA, is the Center’s assistant director and will work closely with him on the new direction.
Desplaces’ envisions the Center becoming the primary point of contact for entrepreneurship development in the region. “We want the Center for Entrepreneurship to be the go-to leader of entrepreneurship in the Lowcountry, and South Carolina,” Desplaces says. “We want to help a business grow in the early stages, and then continue to be its catalyst for development.”
The Center for Entrepreneurship’s mission is to develop regional entrepreneurial ability by helping current and future entrepreneurs start and grow businesses, while supporting responsible enterprises.
“Entrepreneurship is important to the Lowcountry, to the state, and beyond, and we are excited that David will be leading the Center,” says Alan T. Shao, Dean of the School of Business at the College of Charleston. “With his experience and energy, I’m confident that it will be a great success.”
The Center for Entrepreneurship will focus on unique offerings that are not duplicated by other groups in the region. Desplaces plans to partner with existing community resources to offer services for entrepreneurs, such as the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Administration, and the Flagship.
Additionally, he hopes to cultivate relationships with the other Schools and departments at the College, in an effort to promote and nurture entrepreneurial values at the College of Charleston.
Prior to joining the College of Charleston in 2007, Desplaces, Ph.D. and CGBP, worked at several universities and launched the University of Hartford’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. He has also been involved with his family’s oil business since the age of 14, becoming director of both management service and holding companies specialized in oil services and outsourcing in the Middle East. He also served as the Middle East affairs trade mission specialist for the SC Department of Commerce.
At the College of Charleston, Desplaces is the faculty advisor of the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team at the School of Business and is the co-founder, and current Chairman of Possibilities without Borders, a non-profit organization, which offers international service learning projects by providing participating students, faculty, community members, and other partner organizations the necessary resources to achieve each project’s goals. Each year, Desplaces travels around the world with students to lead study abroad experiences in locations such as Dubai, Cameron, and Paris.
He has been awarded the “Forty under 40” award twice: once in Charleston, S.C., and once in Hartford, Conn.
Dispenza received her MBA from Charleston Southern University and her B.S. in Business Administration from the College of Charleston. She has worked with businesses such as SCE&G, Westvaco and Weichert Realtors. Other roles in the School of Business included director of advising and adjunct professor.
To learn more about the Center for Entrepreneurship, please contact David Desplaces at 843.953.6446 or desplacesd@cofc.edu.
