Global and Cross-Border Entrepreneurship
Over the past decade, University of Arizona’s hometown city, Tucson, has cultivated a community of entrepreneurs and innovators. Entrepreneur Magazine recently named the Old Pueblo an emerging entrepreneurial hub and Brookings featured Tucson as an innovative district. Keenly aware of Tucson’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, the McGuire Center has taken an active role to expand its reach to Mexico and abroad.
Small Business Certificate
Currently, the McGuire Center provides entrepreneurship education workshops, trainings and certifications to working professionals. Since 2011, the McGuire Center has worked with Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, the YWCA, the City of South Tucson and Primavera Foundation, to provide more than 1,700 English- and Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs with small business certificate trainings.
McGuire Mexico Scholars
Most recently, the McGuire Center has partnered with the U.S. Consulate in Nogales, Sonora to launch a women’s entrepreneurship initiative, McGuire Mexico Scholars. Through an eight-part workshop series, McGuire Mexico Scholars learn how to develop, pitch and execute new products and services while also broadening their networks and resources to help them better navigate the economic landscape in and around Nogales, Sonora.
Kakehasi Initiative
In recent years, the McGuire Center has taken select students around the world with the express purpose of understanding entrepreneurship in a global context. Thanks to the Kakehashi grant—a Japanese government sponsored initiative—McGuire Center students traveled to Japan to meet with a variety of small and large business owners as well as other influential government stakeholders.