Dennis Bone Explains the Importance of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship helps fuel the economy, according to Dennis Bone, inaugural director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at the Montclair State University School of Business. In his first public presentation about the new Center, Bone discussed the pivotal role entrepreneurs play in today’s economy. “Entrepreneurs are the primary source of new ideas, products and services -- and have created approximately 3 million jobs,” Bone recently told an audience of School of Business students, faculty and alumni.
 
True entrepreneurship is characterized by equal measures of risk and innovation. As Bone sees it, the ability to be creative and generate new ideas is a learned trait, rather than an innate skill.
 
Bone, who was the president and CEO of Verizon New Jersey from 2000 to 2012, agrees with key principles laid out by Joe Abraham in his book Entrepreneurial DNA: The Breakthrough Discovery that Aligns Your Business to Your Unique Strength.  Questioning, observing, networking and experimenting are all learned behavioral traits that are shared by leading innovators. “By understanding and adopting these behaviors entrepreneurs develop and succeed,” Bone said.
 
The new Center, which is located in Partridge Hall, fosters students’ entrepreneurial thinking through a supportive network of outside entrepreneurs and mentors. The Center’s program combines traditional classroom-based coursework with experiential learning opportunities to familiarize students with the concepts and realities of new venture formation.  Funded by a $1 million gift from Mimi and Edwin Feliciano ’82, the innovative new Center supports the University’s commitment to preparing students for success in a global economy.