College plans to expand efforts that encourage student involvement with entrepreneurial projects.
COLUMBIA, KY. (04/15/2025) Entrepreneurship at Lindsey Wilson College received a major boost on Monday, April 14.
The college’s Center for Entrepreneurship, which is part of the School of Business and Communication, received a $7,500 grant from AwesomeInc of Lexington, Kentucky.
The grant will be used to support an entrepreneurship club at the college, according to business faculty member Linda McKinley-Grider, who is also director of the Lindsey Wilson Center for Entrepreneurship.
AwesomeInc is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship in Kentucky.
“Our goal is to help people live their definition of awesome,” said Mackenzie Hanes, partnerships manager for AwesomeInc. “We do that primarily through education — educating people what it is like to be an entrepreneur. We do it through technology — helping entrepreneurs to connect to the technology they need to be successful. And we do it by holding pitch events.”
McKinley-Grider said that Lindsey Wilson appreciates AwesomeInc “for believing in and supporting our entrepreneurship efforts here at Lindsey Wilson College.”
“We are so fortunate to have this relationship with AwesomeInc and their belief in our college,” McKinley-Grider said. “But, more importantly, it’s wonderful to have their belief in our students’ potential to be entrepreneurs and for our students to pursue every opportunity to be problem-solvers and creative thinkers who will come up with the next big idea.”
Hanes said that AwesomeInc fervently believes in “the power of entrepreneurship, and we believe in the power of community.”
“We know that entrepreneurs are in every single corner of Kentucky, and we want to make sure that we are providing all of those entrepreneurs the help to be connected,” said Hanes.
Lindsey Wilson College Center for Entrepreneurship Director Linda McKinley-Grider, left, accepts a facsimile check representing a $7,500 grant from AwesomeInc to support the college’s entrepreneurial efforts. At right is AwesomeInc Partnerships Manager Mackenzie Hanes.
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)