Newport Business School Takes Entrepreneurship Sandpit to U.S.

The Newport lecturers are joining over 80 Welsh companies from the technology, aerospace, defence, security and engineering industries who are visiting the U.S. to foster international corporate partnerships as part of the largest international trade mission organised by International Business Wales (IBW), the economic development and trade arm of the Welsh Assembly Government.

“The University of Wales, Newport has organised a sponsored Sandpit event for US and Welsh companies focusing on re-thinking how business is done in times of economic uncertainty,” explained Dr Jonathan Deacon, Senior Lecturer in Marketing & Entrepreneurship.

“The history of economics tells us that all recessions come to an end and that entrepreneurial and creative companies are the ones that drive recovery and growth. To develop innovative managers who can combine senior leadership and entrepreneurial skills, we are using the concept of Sandpits, a dynamic space where business people from Wales and Washington can re-think their business models for future success in an environment where ideas can be quickly built-up, knocked-down and re-shaped over and over again, until the strongest emerge.

“Sandpits are part of Newport Business School's new Entrepreneurship Foundation which has been established to offer leadership development and entrepreneurship programs with the aim of developing the next generation of business leaders,” he added.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation was unveiled by the University of Wales, Newport, at Creative Capital, an event showcasing the latest thinking in the challenging and changing worlds of media, business, design, regeneration, technology and the creative industries, held in London’s Canary Wharf.

Newport Business School’s day-long event is one the highlights of the trade mission during which the multi-sector delegation will attend a series of specialist programs and networking events to identify future partners, joint venture opportunities and strategic alliances. Programs include meeting high-profile executives and engineers at Boeing, NASA and Lockheed Martin as well as corporate members of the Baltimore World Trade Center.